While America doesn’t have any set guidelines as to what you can and cannot name your child, other countries have much stricter stipulations. Sweden has an official law called the Naming Law, put into effect in 1982, that limits what parents can name their child. It originally served the purpose of preventing non-royals from giving their children noble names, but it now keeps families from choosing first names that are offensive. Names that have been rejected include Ikea and Elvis.
Amongst the countries with the harshest guidelines is Denmark. The country has a list of 7,000 pre-approved names to prevent parents from giving their children weird names. If you want to name your baby a name that is not on the list, you must get special permission, both from the government and your local church. More than that, unique spellings of common names are usually rejected, and last names cannot be used as a first name.
Germany’s rules are a bit different, focusing more on gender. You must be able to discern a child’s gender based on their name, and they can’t have a name that negatively impacts their well-being. The local area in which the parents live has an office that decides if names are approved or rejected. Names like Maximillian and Nemo have been approved for boys, while Matti was rejected, as the office claimed it wasn’t a name that distinguished gender.
In America, most people may find weird that celebrities select baby names like Apple, River, Saint, Apollo, and Titan, but they have the right to. Several states do have laws in regard to baby names, such as California banning the use of accent marks on birth certificates and Massachusetts limiting the number of characters in a person’s name. Who would’ve thought baby names could cause such problems?!