10 Illegal Names You Cannot Call Your Child

A child's name is one of their most prominent defining traits. It is essentially how they will be known for the rest of their lives and oftentimes, a person's name may also affect how they are perceived by others.

The vast majority of the time, a person has no issues with the name they were given and moves on with their inconspicuous moniker. Other times, a person may forsake their given name in favor of an easier or catchier nickname. Then there are those who for whatever reason disliked their given name so much that they have decided to legally change it entirely.

However, there are also names that are so offensive or absurd that you won't even be allowed to use them to name your kid. In this list, we will look at 10 names that parents have been banned from naming their children and the reasons why.

10. Adolf Hitler

This really goes without saying here. Many countries throughout the world have banned parents from naming their child after one of humanity's most evil people. The thought of even wanting to do so is pretty questionable as it is.

Naming your child after a brutal dictator is certainly in bad taste and will inevitably lead to all kinds of social issues for the poor kid. Countries such as Germany, Malaysia and Mexico have made it illegal to name your child after Adolf Hitler.

Interestingly, this is not the case in the US where a New Jersey couple named their child Adolf Hitler Campbell. If the unfavourable reaction to this was not enough, the child's father changed his own surname to Hitler as well.

9. IKEA

When you hear the word IKEA, your mind automatically goes to a blue and yellow logo, furniture and tasty Swedish meatballs. The last thing you'd picture is an actual human being. However, some parents who we can only assume are big fans of the company, have tried to name their child after it.

This has happened in both Australia and Ikea's homeland of Sweden. In Australia, the court held that it is illegal to name a child anything that may be detrimental to a child's best interest. There aren't probably going to be many benefits to naming your child after the furniture giant anyway. In Sweden, the reason was much simpler: You can't name a person after a company.

So whether it be sparing your child years of potential ridicule from their friends or protecting the integrity of the brand itself, the only IKEA we'll be seeing for the foreseeable future is that place where we get our furniture and meatballs.

8. Akuma

As a non-Japanese speaker, the first time I saw the word Akuma was from the Street Fighter video game series. Automatically, I assumed it was just a Japanese name. Much to my surprise however, I discovered it was actually illegal to name your child Akuma in Japan.

It turns out, the word Akuma actually meant demon. Naming your child Akuma in Japan would actually be the equivalent of calling your kid Devil or Satan in a country where English is more predominantly spoken. Even then, it did not stop some parents from wanting to call their kid Akuma.

The decision to name their child Akuma caused such an outcry in Japan that the Prime Minister's department had to intervene. Discovering that the new parents simply wanted their child to stand out, It was eventually decided that parents should not abuse the right to name a child by bestowing it a name with negative connotations regardless of how innocent their intentions may have been.

7. J

Some people think it's cool nowadays to give their child a super short name. Honestly you can't really blame them. These single letter names are certainly recognisable and can even add an air of mystery to the person. Most of the time, there is nothing offensive or negative about it either. After all, many people end up going by a one letter nickname anyway.

However in Switzerland, the court held that "J" or any single letter alone, could not be considered as a name. Swiss law provides that a parent can name a child anything they want provided it does not harm the child's interest or is too offensive or absurd. In this case, the parent's chose to name their child J in honor of their grandparents whose names all started with that letter.

Unfortunately for them, the Swiss courts ruled that a letter cannot be made into a name and instead suggested Jo as an alternative. Many other countries also prevent single letters from being used as names and it goes to show that a name does not always have to be offensive or absurd to be illegal.

6. Cyanide

At the start of this list, we mentioned Hitler. Now, let's take a look at the poison that killed him. A mother in Wales cited that very fact as the reason for why naming her child after the deadly poison was a positive thing. The court, on the other hand, did not feel the same way.

The court ruled that regardless of how the connotations of the word cyanide would be interpreted by different people, it was still an odd name that had the potential to negatively affect the child nonetheless. After all, not many people would choose to name their child after a poison.

It was eventually discovered that the mother was suffering from various mental issues and so the decision was made to have the child's older siblings pick a name instead. It's safe to say that they went with a far more conventional alternative.

5. Messi

It is not uncommon for many die-hard sports fans to name their children after their favourite athlete. Most of the time, there's no issue as most athletes tend to have fairly ordinary names themselves. If you're a Soccer fan and had to name your kid after a player, Lionel Messi would definitely be high up on your list of possibilities.

One of the greatest footballers of all time, Messi is most popularly known by his last name alone. Thus, fans would be more likely to pick the name Messi as opposed to the more generic Lionel as a tribute to the player. However, in Messi's home country of Argentina, this is illegal.

This isn't because of copyright or the footballer trying to protect his name. The actual reason is quite simple. Messi is a surname and in Argentina, you are not allowed to pick a person's surname as your child's first name. So like it or not, if you're in Argentina and want to pay tribute to your hometown hero, you'll have to settle with Lionel.

4. .

In New Zealand, there is a law that prevents punctuation from being added into a person's name. One couple however, decided to go a step further and named their child after just a single period.

When asked about the name's pronunciation, the couple said that their child would be verbally referred to as "Full Stop". This of course did not help their case in any way, shape or form. The court refused to allow this and held that if punctuation could not be added to a name, it could also not serve as a name in itself.

In fact, no matter how you square it, no country in the world could ever allow you to name a child after a single period. The name is too absurd, it cannot be pronounced and will lead to all sorts of difficulties for the child in the near future.

3. 007

In Malaysia, it is explicitly mentioned that you cannot name your child 007. Fans of the iconic spy will be disappointed to hear that you cannot name your child after James Bond's code number. This has nothing to do with aspiring parents wanting their child to get a license to kill but rather because of a law where a name cannot be made up solely from numbers.

This is not an uncommon rule as many countries prevent a name from being nothing but numbers. After all, it is absurd and there is no one way to pronounce a set of digits. Is it "zero zero seven" ,"double-O seven" or "O O Seven"? It creates more problems than necessary. Other countries even take it a step further and prevent numbers in names that are primarily made up of letters.

So unless you're planning on having John Smith III, son of John Smith Jr., you'd best keep away from putting a number in your kid's name. As for this whole 007 thing, if your family name is Bond and you like the movies, there's nothing that can stop you from calling your kid James.

2. Any Non-Icelandic Name

If you're from Iceland, the options you have in terms of naming your kid are far more restricted than a lot of other places. In fact, you cannot name your child anything outside the Icelandic language.

Now before anyone accuses Iceland of being discriminatory against other names, let's clear the air a bit. The reason Iceland does not allow for non-Icelandic names is because their alphabet does not have the letters C, Q, W or Z in it. Thus, it would be impossible to register you if you had a name like Zoe, Calvin or Enrique.

While many countries ban certain names for the sake of good taste and sensibility, Iceland is the only country that controls what you can name your child because of its language, spelling and alphabet. For anyone who isn't a native of Iceland and wants to settle in one of the happiest countries in the world, fear not. All you have to do is apply for an Icelandic name for you to be registered under.

1. Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116

For those of you who are curious as to how one would pronounce this mixture of letters and numbers, I have good news. It's far easier to say this name than to spell it. Pronounced "Albin" the parents of this Swedish child gave their son this name to protest Sweden's strict naming laws.

Fair enough, Sweden may have some strict naming laws but it would be very difficult to imagine any other country that would allow such a "unique" name to be given to a child. This ticks almost all the boxes for why there are laws in place to control what you call your kid. It's absurd, impossible to pronounce when read, is way too long for anyone to remember and has all the potential to lead to bullying for the child with this name. You can't even say it's not totally offensive either as this name was created simply to ridicule a law.

Thankfully, Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116's parents were not allowed to let their child keep this name nor were they allowed to name him "A". Hopefully, this child has now been given a proper name that will not negatively impact his life in any way.

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Image: APThat does it for this list! If you made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read this!. This list should serve as a lesson to any soon-to-be parent. When you name your kid, stick to something that won't cause them to be singled out or picked on by other kids. If you have any other interesting illegal name choices, do let me know. Until then, take care!