Royalty a theme amongst declined baby names for 2021

January 2022

King, Prince and Saint once again make the list of declined baby names for 2021.

With no baby Covids, an eventful 2021 is nowhere to be seen in the list of 78 declined baby names revealed by the Registrar-General, Births, Deaths and Marriages every year.

Following on from last year’s trend, Royale, Royaleliza, Royalred, Royalt and Royalty are amongst the names declined.

“It’s fine to give your baby a creative name, as long as the name isn’t causing any offence, and it fits within the guidelines,” says Registrar-General Jeff Montgomery.

The guidelines also make sure names are a reasonable length, and don’t unjustifiably resemble an official title or rank.

If a name or combination of names appears to fail the criteria, it can be reviewed by the Registrar-General. The family has an opportunity to present their reasons for the name, and these may be accepted by the Registrar-General, on a case-by-case basis.

Of the nearly 60,000 babies born in New Zealand each year, less than 1% of babies have their name personally considered by the Registrar-General.

Tips for ensuring you can register your baby’s name:

· Avoid official titles, using numeric characters or anything unpronounceable, like a backslash or a punctuation mark.

· Rethink swear words.

· Limit the name to no more than 70 characters.

· Register the baby’s birth using the SmartStart website. It’s the quickest and easiest way to register a birth.

Below is a list of names declined by the Registrar-General in 2021. For the full list of most popular baby names and to find out more about registering your baby, head to SmartStart.

Declined names