Naming a child isn’t a decision to make lightly. We’re not being dramatic, but in a way, it’s a life and death situation, given that your child is stuck with it until the end of time. While most parents aim to avoid names that teachers might struggle to pronounce at school or that classmates could turn into unfortunate nicknames, some names go beyond awkward – they’re actually ‘illegal’ in Australia!
Under Australian naming laws, more than 80 names are currently banned nationwide. While each state and territory has its own Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, the rules are fairly consistent across the country and are put in place to ensure your child's name doesn’t become a source of embarrassment or is not offensive or misleading in any way.
The first big no-no when it comes to naming a child is using an official title or rank across royal, political, religious, military and judicial roles – so you won’t meet any little Dukes, Prime Ministers, Gods or Commanders in Australia. In a similar vein, names that go against public interest or could be misleading are also off-limits. This includes anything that promotes social disharmony, infringes on trademarks or refers to administrative processes – for example, Adolf Hitler, the Socceroos, Facebook, Passport, you get the idea.
Under Australian law, names that are obscene or offensive are also prohibited, including swear words, descriptions of violent or sexual acts, racial or cultural slurs, alcohol or drug references, racial, or any words intended to insult or offend. We don’t need to spell them out, but you won’t find any Smellies or Marjuanas on the roll call at school.
Finally, for practical reasons, you also can’t pick names that exceed 50 characters, that include numbers, symbols or random punctuation, or that are statements or phrases. Yep, ‘My Child is the Best’ will almost certainly be rejected.
You can check out a list of baby names currently banned in Australia below – but keep in mind that each state and territory has the power to reject names on a case-by-case basis, after considering factors like family and cultural relevance, and how it will be perceived in the community.
A list of banned baby names in Australia:
- Admiral
- Adolf Hitler
- Anzac
- Australia
- Baron
- Bishop
- Brigadier
- Bomb
- Bonghead
- Brother
- Cadet
- Captain
- Chief
- Christ
- Chow Tow
- Colonel
- Commander
- Commissioner
- Commodore
- Constable
- Corporal
- Cyanide
- Dalai Lama
- Dame
- Devil
- Dickhead
- Doctor
- Duke
- Emperor
- Father
- G-Bang
- General
- God
- Goddess
- Harry Potter
- Honour
- Ikea
- iMac
- Inspector
- Jesus Christ
- Judge
- Justice
- King
- Lady
- Lieutenant
- Lord
- Madam
- Mafia
- Majesty
- Major
- Marijuana
- Marshal
- Medicare
- Messiah
- Minister
- Mister
- Monkey
- Nazi
- Ned Kelly
- Nutella
- Officer
- Osama Bin Laden
- Panties
- Passport
- Pope
- Premier
- President
- Prime Minister
- Prince
- Princess
- Professor
- Queen
- Ranga
- Robocop
- Saint
- Satan
- Scrotum
- Seaman
- Sergeant
- Shithead
- Sir
- Sister
- Smelly
- Snort
- Socceroos
- Terrorist
- Thong
- Virgin