Although a darling daughter may be a little princess in the eyes of her doting parents (at least until the raging hormones hit), an endearment is not necessarily a suitable name for a newborn baby - and risks being refused.
Royalty was the prevailing theme among the 78 baby names declined in New Zealand last year, with King, Prince and Saint once again making the list of proposed forenames that didn't get the stamp of approval.
Following the release of 2021's most popular baby names earlier this week, the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages has now revealed the list of names that were rejected.
Royalty was also the dominant theme in the dismissed names of 2019 and 2020, with Royale, Royaleliza, Royalred, Royalt and Royalty among those declined last year.
"It's fine to give your baby a creative name, as long as the name isn't causing any offence and it fits within the guidelines," Registrar-General Jeff Montgomery said on Wednesday.
The guidelines also ensure that given names are a reasonable length and don't unjustifiably resemble an official title or rank.
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, which 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 percent of babies have their name personally considered by the Registrar-General.
Tips for ensuring you can register your baby's name:
- avoid official titles, 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.
The list of names declined by the Registrar-General in 2021
- Baron - 1
- Chief - 1
- Commodore - 1
- Crown - 2
- Duke - 2
- Eva-Queen - 1
- General - 1
- III - 2
- Isis - 1
- IV - 1
- Kalyn-King - 1
- King - 8
- King-James - 1
- Kyro-King - 1
- Majesty - 1
- Major - 2
- Marquise - 1
- Mayger - 1
- Mesiah - 1
- Messiah - 3
- Ms - 1
- Prince - 5
- Princess - 1
- Princess-Reign - 1
- PrincessVaga - 1
- Prynce - 2
- Pryncess - 1
- Rogue - 2
- Royal - 2
- Royale - 2
- Royaleliza - 1
- Royal-Haze - 1
- Royalred - 1
- Royalt - 1
- Royal'Tee - 1
- Royalty - 4
- Saiint - 1
- Saint - 6
- Saint-Aura 1
- Shaleina-King - 1
- Sheriff - 1
- Souljah - 3
- Sovereign - 2
- Sovereign Messiah - 1
- Tovia-Justyss - 1.
Grand Total: 78
Have a look at the most popular baby names of 2021 here.
