New Zealand’s Home Affairs Ministry has released a list of the most popular baby names chosen in 2022, while also announcing the names most often chosen by parents but not allowed by authorities.
Topping the list of most rejected names is King, which has been number one in New Zealand since 2009.
Last year, authorities in the country rejected the name a total of nine times.
Other names rejected in 2022 included Saint, Royal, Messiah, Prince or Princess, Sovereign and Sire, which were rejected eight times.
The list also includes names that were rejected at least once last year, such as Duke, Empress, General, Justice, Major, Queen, Rogue, Royale, Saynt and Soulijah.
Jeff Montgomery, Secretary-General for Births, Deaths and Marriages, told local media that New Zealand has issued specific guidelines to ensure that names given to children “are not criminal, are of reasonable length and do not represent an official title”.
New Zealand health authorities advise parents to avoid the use of profanity, official titles, numerical characters and symbols, and to use no more than 70 characters when choosing names for their newborn babies.
Names that violate these criteria are reviewed by the registrar on a case-by-case basis.
The most popular names of 2022 were Oliver, Noah and Leo, which topped the list for the tenth consecutive year among boys.
The most common name for girls was Isla, followed by Amelia and Charlotte.
