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State Baby Naming Laws: What's Legal In Your Area

Names are becoming more and more unique every day. But did you know some places have strict laws on what name you're allowed to put on a baby's birth certificate? Well, it's true. And the United States is no exception. In fact, it's illegal to name your child Jesus Christ, Adolf Hitler, Harry 3, Nutella, and @. But the rules don't stop there! Here's a list of states that have specific rules for the name you give your child at birth: Alaska — The use of symbols, including diacritical marks like the kahakō (¯), for names that originate from Kānaka 'Ōiw and Inupiaq cultures is permitted. Arizona — Names can have a total of 141 characters. Arkansas — Names can have apostrophes, hyphens, and spaces, as long as they're not consecutive. California — Derogatory or obscene names, pictographs, and non-English characters are officially banned. Connecticut — Names must contain English letters only, without any symbols. Obscene names prohibited and a name is not required at the time of birth. Delaware — No strict rules; you can change a name at any time. Florida — Parents must sign an agreement on what the child's name will be or the state court will automatically assign one for them. Georgia — No symbols or accents. Hawaii — The use of symbols, including diacritical marks like the kahakō (¯), for names that originate from Kānaka 'Ōiw and Inupiaq cultures is permitted. Idaho — Only English letters allowed. Illinois — No real restrictions. Special characters and numbers are allowed. Indiana — The total length of the first, middle, and last name must be under 100 characters. Iowa — Flexible with naming. Parents can also add a first name (but not change an existing one) until the child is 7 years old. Louisiana — A baby's last name must match the mother's if she wasn't married within 300 days before the birth. Massachusetts — A baby's first, last, and middle names are restricted to a maximum of 40 characters each. Michigan — Names can only have English-language characters in them. Minnesota — Numbers and special symbols are banned, except for apostrophes and hyphens. Mississippi — The child automatically takes on the father's last name if/when the parents are married. A different name can be requested if preferred. New Hampshire — Names can have a maximum of 100 characters total. Apostrophes/dashes are allowed, but no other punctuation. New Jersey — No obscene names, symbols, or numbers. New York — First and middle names have a maximum of 30 characters each, but last names cannot exceed 40 characters. Numbers and symbols in names are strictly forbidden. North Carolina — Accent marks, tildes (á), and hyphens are allowed, but numbers, symbols, and emojis are not. Ohio — You can use hyphens, apostrophes, and spaces, but numbers in names are prohibited. Oklahoma — Nonbinary birth-sex markers are banned. Rhode Island — Accented letters are prohibited on birth certificates, but they can be used formally. South Carolina — Names with numbers and symbols are allowed. Tennessee — Last names follow the father if married, and judges can object to sacrilegious names (i.e., Messiah). Texas — First, middle, and last names can't exceed 100 characters. Only English characters are allowed. Numbers, emojis, and diacritical marks are forbidden. Lastly, Virginia — Numbers, symbols and other special characters such as umlauts and tildes are banned. Tell us about an interesting name you've seen or heard before in the comments!