Choosing your baby’s name is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make.
You want their moniker to fit their personality, be cool but not too popular and represent who they are as a person.
And, it’s hard to decide when they can’t even speak yet!
Luckily, most of us manage to come up with a name pretty easily (even if we trawl through hundreds of baby name sites) and have free reign when it comes to what our kid is called.
But, while you can name your child something popular, like Charlotte and Olivia, or else something less usual, like Rainbow or Skye, there are some monikers that are big no-nos and are actually banned in certain countries.
And, we don’t mean X Æ A-Xii – that’s the name of Grimes and Elon Musk’s child and is, surprisingly, legal.
(Image: Getty Images)
But, it wouldn’t have been allowed in California if they’re son had been called X Æ A-X12 as they originally wanted.
That’s because you can only use names created with the 26 English letters in the alphabet and not numbers or Æ symbols.
Meanwhile, in Norway you can’t use surnames as first names and foreign names for Portuguese babies are banned in Portugal.
And, in France you can’t name your baby after a brand like Nutella or Mini Cooper, reports the Mirror.
So, what are some other names that have been banned around the world in their respective countries? You might be surprised…
Britain
- Martian
- Monkey
- Chow Tow (which means ‘Smelly Head’)
- Rogue
- Akuma (a Japanese work meaning ‘Devil’)
Australia
- Ikea
- Ranga
- LOL
- Batman
- Snort
- Hitler
- Spinach
- Christ
- Dame
- God
- Satan
- Brother
- Sir
- Prime Minister
- General
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
America
- King
- Queen
- Majesty
- Master
- Judge
- Duke
Sweden
- Ikea
- Veranda
- Superman
- Elvis
- Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 (pronounced Albin)
Saudi Arabia
- Malak
- Malika
- Nardeen
- Maya
- Linda
- Alice
- Eleen
- Arm
- Lauren
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Denmark
- Anus
- Monkey
- Pluto
- Ashleiy
- Jakobp
Portugal
- William
- Catherine
- George
- Charlotte
- Tom
- Michael
- Emily
- Bruce
- Jenny
- Nirvana
- Rihanna
- Jimmy
- Viking
France
- Nutella
- MJ
- Manhattan
- Joyeux
- Deamon
- Prince William
- Mini Cooper
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Mexico
- Batman
- Hermione
- Rambo
- Terminator
- James Bond
- Rolling Stone
- Rocky
- Hitler
- Christmas Day
- Burger King
Iceland
- Duncan
- Zoe
- Enrique
- Ludwig
- Camilla
- Harriet
While the reasons behind some of these names being rejected by various governments are obvious – imagine wishing Burger King a happy birthday – others are likely to preserve the native culture.
But, we have to say, we always thought Rogue was a pretty cool name in X-Men.
What’s the most unusual name you considered for your children? Tell us in the comments…
