Christ, Lucifer and 09 are among the baby names which were rejected by the New Zealand government in 2014.
The Department of Internal Affairs has released its yearly tally of banned baby names which were nixed for failing to comply with the country's rules, and some of the vetoed choices are interesting, to say the least.
Top of the list, with six rejections, was Justice. The seemingly innocuous (if arguably tacky) name runs afoul of the country's policy that names cannot give the impression that the bearer holds a title - in this case, high court justice.
New Zealand is notoriously strict when it comes to names which can be seen as mimicking a rank or position, which explains why Corporal, Duke, Knight, Bishop and - amazingly - Senior Constable were among the names which fell foul of the Department of Internal Affairs.
Another little boy narrowly avoided being christened 'Mr', presumably to spare him a lifetime of hearing 'Broken Wings'.
The release of New Zealand's banned names has become an annual event in 'weird news'. In previous years, we've enjoyed perusing such gems as Mafia No Fear, 4Real and V8.
Christ and Lucifer got one rejection each this year - but, surprisingly, it wasn't the first appearance of the Devil on the blacklist, as Lucifer also featured last year.
Other parents sent back to the drawing board included those who named their children 09 and 3rd, as well as five whose named contained a backslash.
The country's birth registration form warns new parents that their name choice may be rejected if it is deemed offensive, resembles a title, includes non-alphabet characters or is 'unreasonably long'.
One family who fell foul of the rules were ordered to change their daughter's name from Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii back in 2008, with ruling judge Rob Murfitt bemoaning an increase in unacceptable names such as Midnight Chardonnay and Benson and Hedges (twins, of course).
However, Registrar-General Jeff Montgomery was quick to stress that only names which violated the rules would be rejected, and that it was ultimately up to parents to spare their child's blushes.
"If someone wanted to call their child 'Cream Bun' there would be no objection," Montgomery told the New Zealand Herald. "But parents should remember the child has to live with a name like that."
New Zealand releases list of banned names
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/01/world/asia/new-zealand-stange-baby-names/index.html
