A child may be a king or queen in their parents' eyes but neither can be used as an official name in Aotearoa. Photo: Valendina.ru / 123rf
Prince, King, Princess, and even Prynce and AazyahRoyaal are among the baby names that didn't pass muster with officials during 2023.
Te Tari Taiwhenua / Department of Internal Affairs has released the names most often turned down by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages in 2023.
The most declined name in 2023 was 'Prince' (five applications). For the previous 13 years, 'King' was the most declined name - this time it was rejected three times.
Other names that failed to impress officials included: Isis, Judge, MissTaunese, Notoriety, Pope, and Sovereign-Kash.
All up, 64 registrations were turned down throughout the year.
Guidelines are in place to ensure that names don't cause offence, are a reasonable length and don't represent an official title or rank, the department said in statement.
The law allows the Registrar-General to reject names being registered which fail to comply with those guidelines.
"Names are a gift, and they are an important part of a person's identity. We encourage parents to think about their child and how they might feel about their name later in life," the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages Russell Burnard said.
"When a name is in review, we give parents the opportunity to present the reasoning for the name. Then we make a decision, considering the balance of how the name may be perceived by the public and the department's obligations under the law."
The Registrar-General's tips for ensuring a baby's name can be registered:
- Don't use official titles or ranks, or names that resemble one
- Don't use numeric characters or symbols, like a backslash or a punctuation mark
- Avoid names that might be considered offensive
- Limit the name to 70 characters, including spaces.
Names can be registered online here.
Earlier this month the department released its annual list of the most popular baby names.