No, you can't call your baby Lucifer

[Hum]

(CNN) -- Lucifer cannot be born in New Zealand. :huh:

And there's no place for Christ or a Messiah either.

In New Zealand, parents have to run by the government any name they want to bestow on their baby.

And each year, there's a bevy of unusual ones too bizarre to pass the taste test.

The country's Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages shared that growing list with CNN on Wednesday.

In the past 12 years, the agency had to turn down not one, not two, but six sets of parents who wanted to name their child "Lucifer."

Also shot down were parents who wanted to grace their child with the name "Messiah." That happened twice.

"Christ," too, was rejected.

As the agency put it, acceptable names must not cause offense to a reasonable person, not be unreasonably long and should not resemble an official title and rank.

It's no surprise then that the names nixed most often since 2001 are "Justice" (62 times) and "King" (31 times).

Some of the other entries scored points in the creativity department -- but clearly didn't take into account the lifetime of pain they'd bring.

"Mafia No Fear." "4Real." "Anal."

Oh, come on!

Then there were the parents who preferred brevity through punctuation. The ones who picked '"*" (the asterisk) or '"."(period).

Still, some quirky names do make it through.

In 2008, the country made made international news when the naming agency allowed a set of twins to be named '

"Benson" and "Hedges" -- a popular cigarette brand -- and OK'd the names "Violence" and "Number 16 Bus Shelter."

Asked about those examples, Michael Mead of the Internal Affairs Department (under which the agency falls) said, "All names registered with the Department since 1995 have conformed to these rules."

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[Quillz]

Surprised they don't allow King, I've heard it before. (As well as Prince Michael.)

[Hum]

Satan will not be happy with New Zealand.

[Astra.Xtreme]

Really, somebody tried to name their kid "Anal"? Why do people name their kids such stupid things?

[adrynalyne]

Really, somebody tried to name their kid "Anal"? Why do people name their kids such stupid things?

I dated a girl after high school named Charity. Her sister was named Liberty, and her brother was named SunBear.

It is of no surprise that they lived in Arivaca, AZ and that you got a contact high by just walking into their home.

[spacer]

I wish my country had a similar commitee/law. I have seen some pretty stupid names over the last few years. Just watch an NBA or NFL game for 5 minutes, and you're bound to find a handful of them.

[FloatingFatMan]

I wish my country had a similar commitee/law. I have seen some pretty stupid names over the last few years. Just watch an NBA or NFL game for 5 minutes, and you're bound to find a handful of them.

I've often felt that some Americans just grab random letters out of a Scrabble bag...

[rfirth]

La-a

How do you pronounce it?

La-dash-a. Because the dash don't be silent.

[adrynalyne]

I've often felt that some Americans just grab random letters out of a Scrabble bag...

I'd say that is a much larger issue than Americans.

[neufuse Veteran]

I've often felt that some Americans just grab random letters out of a Scrabble bag...

once again saying something is an American problem, yet there is evidence of it everywhere... always love this blame America attitude the whole wrote has when they are doing the same things themselves...

[FloatingFatMan]

once again saying something is an American problem, yet there is evidence of it everywhere... always love this blame America attitude the whole wrote has when they are doing the same things themselves...

Pardon? I'm not blaming Americans for anything. I said, if you can bother to read, that "I've often felt". But I'll play your silly game if you like. Yeah, weird names ARE way more prevalent in Americans (and Canadians too) than any other English speaking nations. Foreign languages can't really be counted.

[techbeck]

People think names are cute and fun...but in reality, it leads to the kids getting their asses kicked and made fun of later on in life. I used to look at a phone book for weird names and came acrossed several Harold Sacks, Richard Heads, and Michael Hunts. And these are not even the worst of them all.

[Phouchg]

"Soft names make soft people. I bet you anything that 10 times out of 10, Nicky, Vinny, Tony and Lucifer will beat the sh*t out of Todd, Kyle, Tucker and Christ."

[Growled Member]

Satan will not be happy with New Zealand.

I'm not too happy with them either. What right do they have to tell me what I can name my child?

[adrynalyne]

Pardon? I'm not blaming Americans for anything. I said, if you can bother to read, that "I've often felt". But I'll play your silly game if you like. Yeah, weird names ARE way more prevalent in Americans (and Canadians too) than any other English speaking nations. Foreign languages can't really be counted.

I'd love to know how you quantified that one ;)

[Sylar0]

As an atheist, I find not being able to call my kid Lucifer as censorship it only applies to the sensitiveness of Christians. I don't mind the names Justice or King thinking of MLK of course. I don't see the difference between first and last names really. I take more expectation to names spelt wrong on purpose say Crystal with a K etc.... or Chloe with a K. So yer censorship for me ill name my kid Lucifer Kane If I want.....

[Hum]

I'm not too happy with them either. What right do they have to tell me what I can name my child?

I suppose the government is thinking of the possible troubles some names could cause.

Lucifer is kind of a cool name to me. :p

[Nick H. Supervisor]

What's the issue with the name Lucifer? "Morning star" (or some variation thereof) sounds quite nice to me.

[Growled Member]

I suppose the government is thinking of the possible troubles some names could cause.

I guess next they'll have to limit nicknames?

[Original Poster]

Lucifer is a nice name? why the hell not? they said they have to make sure the names are not offensive to a reasonable person? ... and something tells me they are basing the ban on a religious purpose ?? how are those people then reasonable lol