During an eventful 2021, there were no baby Covids on the list of 78 declined baby names, revealed by the Registrar-General, Births, Deaths and Marriages.
Following on from last year’s trend, Royale, Royaleliza, Royalred, Royalt and Royalty are among the names declined.
“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,” said Registrar-General Jeff Montgomery.
The guidelines also make sure 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, 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 per cent 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
Total: 78
