Illegal Baby Names Banned in the United States and Around the World

Illegal Baby Names baby names Names Banned in the US Names Banned Around the World

By Joel Brussels , Parent Herald Mar 11, 05:20 am

Photo: (Photo : Janos Kummer/Getty Images)

For some soon-to-be parents, choosing a baby name can be difficult. There are plenty of options to choose when naming a child, leading some parents to do the unthinkable and give their babies names that would get them bullied at school.

To prevent children from suffering that fate, the United States and other countries worldwide have enacted some naming laws that would prevent parents from giving names that are deemed off-limits.

According to the website USBirthcertificates.com, there are already a few illegal baby names in the United States. It is important to emphasize that naming laws in the U.S. differ from state to state, meaning some names may be illegal in one place but not in another. Kentucky, for example, has no naming laws in place, giving parents the freedom to choose any name they want for their babies.

Adolf Hitler name allowed in New Jersey

Some of the names that have been banned in some parts of the United States include King, Queen, Jesus Christ, III, Santa Claus, Majesty, Adolf Hitler, Messiah, @, and 1069. It is crazy that parents would name their child after the Nazi leader, but a New Jersey couple did just that back in the 2000s.

They grabbed the headlines back in 2009 when a ShopRite supermarket located in Greenwich, New Jersey, refused to inscribe their son Adolf Hitler Campbell's name on a cake for his third birthday.

That sparked outrage across the country, but according to New Jersey law, parents can give any name to their child so long as it does not include numerals, symbols, or obscenity. That allowed Heath Campbell and Deborah Campbell to give their children Nazi-inspired names.

Adolf Hitler Campbell has two younger sisters, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hitler Jeannie Campbell. Their parents lost custody of them after a state appeals court in New Jersey ruled that the children were at risk of abuse and neglect. However, authorities made it clear that the reason they took the children into protective custody was not because of the children's names.

Carlton Larson, a law professor at the University of California, tackled this issue in his 2011 study of U.S. baby names, saying, "If the Campbells had named their son 'R2D2,' state authorities would have intervened." Larson added that the name "Adolf Hitler Campbell" presented no legal impediments.

Illegal baby names from across the globe

The United States is not the only country to have a list of illegal baby names. Other nations have banned certain names for newborn babies as well. The names "Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii," "Chief Maximus," and "Sex Fruit" are deemed illegal in New Zealand. The name "Robocop" is banned in Mexico, while "Linda" is not allowed as a baby name in Saudi Arabia.

A baby cannot be called "Snake" in Malaysia, while the name "Friday" has been banned in Italy. Chinese authorities have deemed some Islamic terms as illegal baby names, including "Islam" and "Quran." The name "Osama bin Laden" is not allowed in Germany, while Devil, Circumcision, and Cyanide are banned in Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom, respectively.