A naming law restricts the names that parents can legally give to their children, usually to protect the child from being given an offensive or embarrassing name. Many countries around the world have such laws, with most governing the meaning of the name, while some only govern the scripts in which it is written.
Australia In Australia, naming laws are governed by the states and territories which may have differing restrictions. Most states prohibit names that are too long, include unpronounceable symbols such as !, @ or # (apart from hyphens between names), that include official titles or are otherwise obscene or offensive. In 2017 a list of purportedly prohibited names was leaked from the Victorian register of Births, Deaths and Marriages some examples of which are below:
Anzac Australia Chief Christ Commodore Constable Emperor General God Judge Justice King Lady Messiah Minister Prime Minister Saint Satan Seaman
Some examples of names banned nationally are:
Admiral Anzac Australia Baron Bishop Bonghead Brigadier Brother Cadet Captain Chief Chow Tow Christ Commodore Constable Corporal Cyanide Dame Dickhead Duke Emperor Father G-Bang General God Honour Ikea iMac Judge Justice King Lady Lieutenant Lord Madam Majesty Major Marijuana Medicare Messiah Minister Mister Monkey Ned Kelly Nutella Officer Panties Premier President Prime Minister Prince Princess Queen Ranga Robocop Saint Satan Scrotum Seaman Sergeant Shithead Sir Sister Smelly Snort Spongebob Thong Virgin
Austria First names that are uncommon or detrimental to the child's welfare must not be registered. Additionally, at least the first name of the child must correspond to the child's gender.
Azerbaijan Over 200 names have been proscribed by Azerbaijan as of 2015, including "the names of persons who have perpetrated aggression against the people of Azerbaijan" (including names seen as "Armenian") and "names whose meaning is offensive in the Azerbaijani language".
Canada Naming laws vary from province to province. In British Columbia, the Vital Statistics Act requires the registrar general to reject a proposed name or an amendment to an existing name if the name "might reasonably be expected to cause (i) mistake or confusion, or embarrassment to the child or another person, is sought for an improper purpose, or is, on any other ground, objectionable".
China
In Imperial China, a naming taboo prevented people from using the same names as the reigning emperor.
Denmark Under the Law on Personal Names, first names are picked from a list of approved names (18,000 female names and 15,000 male names as of 1 January 2016). One can also apply to for approval of new names, e.g. common first names from other countries. Names cannot have surname character, and must follow Danish orthography (e.g. Cammmilla with three ms is not allowed).
Finland
The Names Act of 1985 requires that all Finnish citizens and residents have at least one and at the most four first names. Persons who do not have a first name are obligated to adopt one when they are entered into the Finnish national population database. Parents of new-born children must name their child and inform the population registry within two months of the child's birth. The name may be chosen freely, but it must not be:
A name used primarily by persons of the other sex A name foreign to the naming tradition in Finland A surname, except a patronymic as last given name A name already used by a sibling, if this is to be the only given name.
Waivers may be granted if valid family, religious or ethnic reasons give grounds to use a name contrary to these principles. Persons may change their first names once without a specific reason. For subsequent changes, valid reasons must be presented.Nimilaki (694/1985) § 32b. Retrieved 3 November 2008. (in Finnish)
France Since 1993 the choice has been free in France unless it is decided that the name is contrary to the interests of the child. Before that time the choice of first names was dictated by French laws that decreed which names were acceptable. Napoleon Bonaparte created the law.
Germany Names have to be approved by the local registration office, called Standesamt, which generally consults a list of first names and foreign embassies for foreign names. The name cannot be a last name or a product, and it cannot negatively affect the child. If the name submitted is denied, it can be appealed; otherwise a new name has to be submitted. A fee is charged for each submission.
Umlauts (ä, ö, ü) and/or the letter ß''' in family names are recognized as an important reason for a name change. (Even just the change of the spelling, e.g. from Müller to Mueller or from Weiß to Weiss, is regarded as name change. In German ID cards and passports, however, such names are spelled in two different ways: the correct way in the non-machine-readable zone of the document [Müller] and transcribed [Mueller] in the machine-readable zone of the document, so persons unfamiliar with German orthography may get the impression that the document is a forgery. German credit cards may use the correct or the transcribed spelling only. It is recommended to use the exactly same spelling in the machine-readable zone of the passport for airline tickets, visas, etc. and to refer to this zone if being asked questions.) Internationally and by many electronic systems, ä / ö / ü are transcribed as ae / oe / ue, and ß is transcribed as ss.
During the Nazi period, Germany had a list of approved names to choose from that was passed on 5 January 1938 as the "Second Regulation under the law re The changing of Family and Given names." The law had one list of names for ethnic Germans and another for Jews.
Hungary A child's name must be chosen from a list of pre-approved names. If the intended name is not on the list, the parents need to apply for approval. Applications are considered by the Research Institute for Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences following a set of principles. Children born to a foreign citizen may have their name chosen according to foreign law.
Iceland
Parents are limited to choosing children's names from the Personal Names Register (), which contained about 4,300 names. Since 2019 given names are no longer restricted by gender. The Icelandic Naming Committee maintains the list and hears requests for exceptions.
India The government of Rajasthan launched the Meaningful Names Campaign (Saarthak Naam Abhiyan) in 2026 to correct the official usage of “inappropriate, unclear, or negative” names in schools (including diminutives, derogatory terms, and those based on caste) to combat feelings of inferiority. Parents of young students and older students with banned names were given the opportunity to select from a list of approved “respectful” alternatives.
Indonesia Legal naming in Indonesia currently follows Regulation no. 73 of 2022 about Recording of Names on Residence Document, which requires names to be written in the Latin script, not to be mononymous (i.e. they must consist of at least two words), and to have no more than 60 characters, including spaces, a small increase from the previous limit of 55. Names are also forbidden which are hard to read, have negative or multiple meanings, are abbreviated or contain numbers, symbols or references to academic degrees. People born before 2022 who have mononyms or overly long names are exempted via the grandfather clause principle, thenceforth allowed to keep their names.
Before that year, there was no nationwide regulation or any other kind of legal restriction on personal names in Indonesia, which effectively allowed for the emergence of various unusual names (for example, at least six people have single-character names, such as "." and "N", and there was once a 132-character-long name, the longest one ever to be born in Indonesia). Still, at the local level, the government of Karanganyar attempted to regulate naming by introducing a ban in 2019 upon those names it deemed to be of Western origins, sparking criticism from several representatives.
Iran There are many regulations regarding personal names in the Islamic Republic of Iran: names must not insult the Islamic religion or public morality, and they must not be associated with the opposite sex; converts to Islam may change their name for religious reasons—however, changing Islamic names is prohibited; a person can request that the potentially shaming component Abd (meaning servant) be removed from their name; additional (or extra) names may also be omitted on official documents.
Ireland Registration of births in the Republic of Ireland requires specifying one surname and one or more forenames. There are no laws restricting forenames, although if a registrar thinks a name "obscene, blasphemous, or otherwise inappropriate", they will advise the parents and may require them to sign a statement confirming they have been so advised. Registration can accommodate names with Latin diacritics: both Irish-language names with the (Irish accented vowels: ) and others such as Björn, João, or Maitê.
Israel According to the (current) 1956 ,חוק השמות, תשט"ז-1956, Law No. 207 of August 3, 1956 a person should have a first name (more than one is permitted) and surname (a double-barrelled name is permitted). Children receive the surname of their married parents or the surname of their father if the surnames of their parents differ one from another. If their parents were not married or have a common-law marriage, children receive the surname of their mother unless both parents agreed to give them a double surname. Names can be double if there was no agreement about it between both parents who at least have a common-law marriage. If the parents do not have a common-law marriage children receive the surname of their mother only.
It is permitted to change one's name or surname once in seven years, or even earlier provided the Ministry of Interior agrees. In accordance with section no. 16, the Ministry may reject a name or surname if the possibility exists that the name is deceptive or that may be an offense to public policy and the public sentiment. While there is not a formal list of banned names, it is highly likely that offensive names like "Hazir" (חזיר = pig) or "Hitler" will be rejected according to this section.
In the case of adoption a child receives the adoptive parents' surname but keeps the original first name.
In accordance with section no. 9, in the rare case of a nameless person, the Minister of Interior chooses the name in accordance with names of person's parents, grandparents, or the spouse in the case of marriage. However, the person can change this name within two months of the announcement.
The father's name is provided by the mother of the person until the age of 16, or by the individuals themselves if they are above age 16.
Italy Names considered ridiculous or shameful are banned by law.
Japan
Similar to China, Japan has a certain set of characters that cannot be used in a child's name.
Kyrgyzstan Some Kyrgyz have been Russifying their names, which had a bill proposed on the 4th of March, 2015, that sought to ban the practice. The bill ultimately did not pass; instead, Kyrgyzstan citizens are since 2025 allowed to voluntarily drop suffixes of Russian origin from their surnames.
Malaysia In 2006 as well as thereafter, the National Registration Department of Malaysia (JPN) may decline to register objectionable or undesirable names, including names based on titles, numbers, colors, vegetables, fruits, vulgarities, or equipment. Parents who wish to register such names despite JPN objection must make a statutory declaration to that effect.
Namibia