New Zealand Bans 'Lucifer'

Stumped on what to name your kid? Well, if you live in New Zealand, you have one less choice. The country's Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages has effectively blacklisted the name "Lucifer" after blocking three requests for the name by new parents. Lucifer joins a list of 102 other names that have been shot down in the last two years, including single letters, numbers, and punctuation marks. The name "Messiah" is also on the list, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

But plenty of wacky names have made it past New Zealand's names registrar, including "Violence" and "Number 16 Bus Shelter." Famous among these was the unfortunate little girl christened "Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii." A family court judge chided the approval of such bizarre names when in 2008 he legally changed the 9-year-old's name to—presumably—something normal. In its defense, the registrar offered examples of names it had denied: Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, and Sex Fruit. (More baby name stories.)