These baby names are illegal in NJ (and a few that should be)

Naming your child is a lot of pressure. Did you know certain creative names you might want for your baby are actually illegal in the Garden State? New Jersey is one of the only states in the U.S. that regulates such a thing.

We’ll give you names that are illegal in New Jersey in a moment along with names that are illegal in various places around the world. But first how about a few that should be?

I once knew a guy whose wife was pregnant with their second child. Before they knew the gender he told me quite seriously that if it were a boy he was lobbying for the name Wentworth.

Wentworth.

These were not pretentious people either. But the name? 100% pretentious. Let’s at least give our kids a fighting chance at getting through middle school without a swirly. I say names that try too hard ought to be disallowed.

Could we also put an end to parents going berserk with purposely misspelling common names? In my world, Aimee would be illegal. So would Stacee and Jakob and Sylveeah. Unless you think you’re being cool to doom your kid to a lifetime of constantly correcting people, you’ll agree.

I’ll never get my way, but there really are certain names that will not be allowed on a birth certificate. Elon Musk and Grimes named a child X Æ A-12. If they lived in New Jersey it never could have happened. We’ll explain why shortly.

You know what name never should have been allowed? Adolf Hitler. Remember in 2008 when a New Jersey white supremacist who had named his son Adolf Hitler Campbell wanted a bakery to write the name on a cake? They refused, and the rest became strange New Jersey history. But in New Jersey, you’re allowed to name your child after one of the most despised human beings in history, like Adolf Hitler or Genghis Khan. Or Gwyneth Paltrow.

Since certain first names would be illegal in New Jersey it’s hard to believe Adolf Hitler wouldn’t be one of them. But in Malaysia, Germany and a few other places it would be illegal. That item is up first on this crazy list of illegal names and where they don’t allow them. Take a look through and you’ll find New Jersey and what exactly we don’t allow. I’ll have some final thoughts at the end.

So there you have it.

“Numbers, symbols, and curse words are all off-limits.”

That’s why X Æ A-12 Musk wouldn’t have been allowed here. Do you remember the “Seinfeld” episode where George Constanza had what he thought was the perfect baby girl name until someone stole it?

It was Seven.

Now I assume if it’s spelled out that way and not as a numeral 7 that New Jersey would allow it, but I’m not certain.

Also, did we really have to have a law telling parents they weren’t allowed to name their child Bitch or Damn? Then again, we already had an Adolf Hitler. So yeah, guess we had to.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now.

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