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The 89 illegal baby names that have been officially banned in Australia

Don’t expect to see any Doctors or Dalai Lamas on the roll call

Melissa Woodley
Written by
Melissa Woodley
Travel & News Editor, Time Out Australia
Baby lying in green inflatable donut
Photograph: Valeria Zoncoll via Unsplash
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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:

  1. Admiral
  2. Adolf Hitler
  3. Anzac
  4. Australia
  5. Baron
  6. Bishop
  7. Brigadier
  8. Bomb
  9. Bonghead
  10. Brother
  11. Cadet
  12. Captain
  13. Chief
  14. Christ
  15. Chow Tow 
  16. Colonel
  17. Commander
  18. Commissioner
  19. Commodore
  20. Constable
  21. Corporal
  22. Cyanide
  23. Dalai Lama
  24. Dame
  25. Devil
  26. Dickhead
  27. Doctor
  28. Duke
  29. Emperor
  30. Facebook
  31. Father
  32. G-Bang
  33. General
  34. God
  35. Goddess
  36. Harry Potter
  37. Honour
  38. Ikea
  39. iMac
  40. Inspector
  41. Jesus Christ
  42. Judge
  43. Justice
  44. King
  45. Lady
  46. Lieutenant
  47. Lord
  48. Madam
  49. Mafia
  50. Majesty
  51. Major
  52. Marijuana 
  53. Marshal
  54. Medicare 
  55. Messiah
  56. Minister
  57. Mister
  58. Monkey
  59. Nazi
  60. Ned Kelly
  61. Nutella
  62. Officer
  63. Osama Bin Laden
  64. Panties
  65. Passport
  66. Pope
  67. Premier
  68. President
  69. Prime Minister
  70. Prince
  71. Princess
  72. Professor
  73. Queen
  74. Ranga
  75. Robocop
  76. Saint
  77. Satan
  78. Scrotum
  79. Seaman
  80. Sergeant
  81. Shithead
  82. Sir
  83. Sister
  84. Smelly
  85. Snort
  86. Socceroos
  87. Terrorist
  88. Thong
  89. Virgin

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