I don’t have the most normal of names. And strangers just love to point it out to me.
So when the third customer of the day at my retail job would inevitably ask me, ‘Is that your real name?’, I’d feel a hint of frustration at my parents for picking something so darn unusual.
But, just imagine what they people would say if my name was ‘Commodore’ or ‘Australia’?
Thankfully, we won’t ever see that happen because it is actually prohibited for a parent to name their child either of those names.
State by state there are varying rules dictating what names are illegal.
Each Australian state and territory works under its own set of guidelines that allow its Births, Deaths and Marriages Registry to knock back any names that are, for example, offensive, obscene, unreasonable or using inappropriate characters.
But one state in particular can give us a solid idea of exactly what will never make the cut.
The Registry in Victoria (... the nanny state, of course) has established a list of 46 banned names.
It’s worth noting the list is not exhaustive, so if you're dreaming of giving your future child an especially quirky name like ‘Panties’ or ‘Medicare’ (yes, fellow citizens have actually attempted this), and you think you can go ahead because it’s not on this list… Sorry, that’s not how it works.
There are many names that can be rejected on application. In Australia last year, we saw the likes of iMac and Ikea, to Snort and Scrotum, given the elbow.
So let's all take a minute to thank our parents for giving us names which aren't inspired by popular technological products or body fluids.
And while the government might not be perfect, knowing it has prevented parents from naming their newborn ‘Princess’ makes me feel a bit better about our country’s future.
So without further ado, here are the 46 names that are banned in Victoria:
- Admiral
- Anzac
- Australia
- Baron
- Bishop
- Brigadier
- Brother
- Cadet
- Captain
- Chief
- Christ
- Commodore
- Constable
- Corporal
- Dame
- Duke
- Emperor
- Father
- General
- God
- Honour
- Judge
- Justice
- King
- Lady
- Lieutenant
- Lord
- Madam
- Majesty
- Major
- Messiah
- Minister
- Mister
- Officer
- Premier
- President
- Prime Minister
- Prince
- Princess
- Queen
- Saint
- Satan
- Seaman
- Sergeant
- Sir
- Sister
Top Comments
I fail to see that 'Mercy' is unusual, and I'm incensed that they would DARE to put 'Honour' on that list. These are attribute names, like Faith, Charity, Hope, Grace, Purity, Verity and so on. These are old names with a long, long history. I agree with most, however I'm really angry about Honour - one of my Great Grandmothers was called Honour, and what if we wanted to honour her with using the name? Ridiculous.
My great aunt and uncle had a cat called Sister Cat.🙀!