Different countries have different rules for naming babies, and some of the UK's popular baby names have been banned around the world - including a few royal monikers.
Deciding on a baby name is often one of the first things parents start to think about when they find out they're expecting. With so many to choose from, it's hard to know whether a unique baby name or one of the most popular baby names will be the right choice - and is there a cute baby name or a cool baby name that suits your bundle of joy?
In the UK, parents can take their pick of pretty much any baby names they like. In the US, the rules are similarly lax, with just a handful of monikers banned. But, elsewhere in the word, the laws are much stricter when it comes to what you can call your child.
New Zealand and Iceland are both known for the restrictions they place on baby names, with the former not allowing names that contain a title or rank (such as Prince), while the Nordic island nation doesn't allow letters that aren't in the Icelandic alphabet. Names that are common in the UK have previously been outlawed - including Harriet and Camilla.
And it's not just the current queen that has a banned name, several other members of the royal family have names that are illegal elsewhere in the world. France previously barred parents from naming their child Prince William, while in Portugal almost all the Wales' names are banned - William, Catherine, George and Charlotte - because most foreign names are not permitted.
That said, most of the rejected names around the world are pretty unusual. Check out 40 of them below...
40 baby names banned around the world
New Zealand
- Chief Maximus
- Sex Fruit
- Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii
- Lucifer
Iceland
- Harriet
- Camilla
- Ariel
- Zelda
Sweden
- Superman
- IKEA
- Brfxxccxxmnpxxxxlllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116
- Elvis
France
- Nutella
- Prince William
- Griezmann Mbappe
- Manhattan
Portugal
- Thor
- Tom
- Charlotte
- Emily
Mexico
- Robocop
- Circumcision
- Rambo
- Batman
More banned baby names
- Linda (Saudi Arabia)
- Maya (Saudi Arabia)
- Friday (Italy)
- Blue (Italy)
- Monkey (Denmark)
- Pluto (Denmark)
- Judas (Switzerland)
- Chanel (Switzerland)
- Duke (Australia)
- Spinach (Australia)
- Bridge (Norway)
- Sarah (Morocco)
- Wolf (Spain)
- Snake (Malaysia)
- Kohl (Germany)
- @ (China)
Looking for more baby name inspiration? We've rounded up this huge list of old-fashioned baby names, and we've got space-inspired baby names and twin baby names to choose from too. And find out if your name is dying out with this list of unpopular baby names.
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