Naming law

A naming law restricts the names that parents can legally give to their children, usually to protect the child from being given an offensive or embarrassing name. Many countries around the world have such laws, with most governing the meaning of the name, while some only govern the scripts in which it is written.

Azerbaijan

Certain names have been proscribed by Azerbaijan.

China

Main articles: Naming laws in the People's Republic of China and Naming taboo

In Imperial China, a naming taboo prevented people from using the same names as the reigning Emperor.

The Chinese language has over 70,000 characters, but only a fraction of these are represented by computers. Children's names are limited to characters which are machine readable.

Denmark

Under the Law on Personal Names, first names are picked from a list of approved names (18,000 female names and 15,000 male names as of Jan 1st 2016). One can also apply to Ankestyrelsen for approval of new names, e.g. common first names from other countries. Names must indicate gender, cannot have surname character, and must follow Danish orthography (e.g. Cammmilla with three m's is not allowed).

France

Since 1993 the choice has been free in France unless it is decided that the name is contrary to the interests of the child. Before that time the choice of first names was dictated by French laws that decreed which names were acceptable.

Germany

Names have to be approved by the local registration office, called Standesamt, which generally consults a list of first names and foreign embassies for foreign names. The name has to indicate gender, it cannot be a last name or a product, and it cannot negatively affect the child. If the name submitted is denied, it can be appealed; otherwise a new name has to be submitted. A fee is charged for each submission.

During the Nazi period, Germany had a list of approved names to choose from that was passed on January 5, 1938 as the "Second Regulation under the law re The changing of Family and Given names." The law had one list of names for ethnic Germans and another for Jews.

Hungary

A child's name must be chosen from a list of pre-approved names. If the intended name is not on the list, the parents need to apply for approval. Applications are considered by the Research Institute for Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences following a set of principles. Children born to a foreign citizen may have their name chosen according to foreign law.

Iceland

Parents are limited to choosing children's names from the Personal Names Register, which is a list of about 1800 names for each gender. The Icelandic Naming Committee maintains the list and hears requests for exceptions.

Further information: Icelandic name

Italy

Ridiculous or shameful names are barred by law.

Japan

Main article: Japanese name § Regulations

Similarly to China, Japan has a certain set of characters that can be used in a child's name.

Kyrgyzstan

Some Kyrgyz have been russifying their names.

A law to ban russified names was proposed.

New Zealand

Under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act of 1995, names are prohibited which "might cause offence to a reasonable person; or [...] is unreasonably long; or without adequate justification, [...] is, includes, or resembles, an official title or rank."

Portugal

Portugal has a set list of names approved and not approved published periodically by the Institute of Registration at the Ministry of Justice.

Saudi Arabia

A list of 50 were proscribed by Saudi Arabia.

Sweden

Main article: Naming law in Sweden

Swedish first names "shall not be approved if they can cause offense or can be supposed to cause discomfort for the one using it, or names which for some obvious reason are not suitable as a first name."

Tajikistan

Main article: Islam in Tajikistan

The authorities of Tajikistan have announced the preparation of a list of 3,000 pre-approved names, all referred to Tajik's culture, thus banning Arabic/Islamic names and suffixes, deemed divisive.

Among increasingly religious Tajiks, Islamic-Arabic names have become more popular over Tajik names.

The Tajik government has used the word "prostitute" to label hijab wearing women and enforced shaving of beards, in addition to considering the outlawing of Arabic-Islamic names for children and making people use Tajik names. Tajikistan President Rakhmon (Rahmon) has said that the Persian epic Shahnameh should be used as a source for names, with his proposed law hinting that Muslim names would be forbidden after his anti hijab and anti beard laws.

United States

Main article: Naming in the United States

Comparably, America has fewer naming laws than most countries. Traditionally, the right to name your child or yourself as you choose has been upheld by court rulings and is rooted in the Due Process Clause of the fourteenth Amendment and the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, but a few restrictions do exist. Restrictions vary by state, but most are for the sake of practicality. For example, several states limit the number of characters you may use due to the limitations of the software used for official record keeping. For similar reasons, some states ban the use of numerals or pictograms. A few states ban the use of obscenity. There are also a few states, Kentucky for instance, that have no naming laws whatsoever.

One naming law that some find restrictive is California’s ban on diacritical marks, such as in the name José. The Office of Vital Records in California requires that names contain only the 26 alphabetical characters of the English language. There is no law restricting the use of diacritical marks informally and many parents do so.

See also

• Surname law

External links

• http://mentalfloss.com/article/68768/22-outlawed-baby-names-around-world
• http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/17-banned-baby-names-around-4725752
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/24/banned-baby-names_n_5134075.html
• Who, What, Why: Why do some countries regulate baby names?