A tribunal has been forced to name a baby after his parents couldn't agree.

The parents – who come from two different ethnic backgrounds – agreed on a first and middle name but couldn’t agree on a surname, The Herald Sun reports.

In 2015, Birth’s Death and Marriages gave the boy a hyphenated surname including both names, but the dispute continued and spiralled the family into violence.

This March, a VCAT hearing decided that the child should have the mother’s surname with his father’s surname as a second middle name.

“There is little doubt that they both love [the child], but the dispute between them about his name and future upbringing has been bitter,” tribunal member Elisabeth Wentworth said, according to The Herald Sun.

“There has been violence by the father towards the mother,” she added.

“According to the police information on the notice [the father] had punched her in the stomach and gripped her arm hard after an argument about the child’s upbringing.

“Police expressed concern that if no action was taken the violence could continue and increase in severity.”

The mother is said to be the sole carer for the child and Mrs Wentworth said the child was known by his first name along with his mother’s surname.

“That is the name by which other people in his life know him and he knows himself,” Ms Wentworth said.

The names of the parents have been withheld and Mrs Wentworth said they will only be revealed when all living witnesses — including the family — have died.