Declined baby names for 2020

27 January 2021

We’ll never be royals with nearly a quarter of declined baby names featuring “Royal” in some form or another.

Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs has released the list of names declined in 2020 by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Roya Ltee, Royal, Royal-Blue, Royal-Reign, Royalty, Royalty-Rain, Royele-Blue, and Royell are among the 44 names declined.

No new-born has been named Covid and the Registrar-General would consider carefully any application on the grounds it could be deemed offensive to those who have lost loved ones to the disease.

Registrar-General Jeff Montgomery says the guidelines make sure names don’t cause offence, are a reasonable length, and don’t unjustifiably resemble an official title or rank.

“There's no problem if you want to give your child a spelled-out number or even silly name, but remember your child has to live with it!”

If a name or combination of names appears to fail the criteria, it can be reviewed by the Registrar-General. The family has an opportunity to present their reasons for the name, and these may be accepted by the Registrar-General, on a case-by-case basis.

Of the nearly 60,000 babies born in New Zealand each year, less than 1% of babies have their name personally considered by the Registrar-General.

Tips for ensuring you can register your baby’s name

• Avoid official titles, using numeric characters or anything unpronounceable, like a backslash or a punctuation mark.
• Rethink swear words.
• Limit the name to no more than 70 characters.
• Register the baby’s birth using the SmartStart website. It’s the quickest and easiest way to register a birth.

Ends

Media contact:

Media Desk
Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs
Mobile: +64 27 535 8639 email: media@dia.govt.nz