11 Baby Names That are Banned in Massachusetts

Massachusetts certainly has some strange laws and we've covered many of them in previous articles. You can check out 31 Strange Massachusetts laws by going here. In addition to some of the strange laws that are still on the books in Massachusetts, other laws do seem to make some sense including naming laws.

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Back when my daughter was born which was right at the beginning of the pandemic, my wife and I knew exactly what we wanted her first and middle name to be (Hannah Sadie). There was no question or last-minute hesitation on what to name our baby girl. We had Hannah's name planned out for weeks. Hannah's first and middle names are perfectly legal according to Massachusetts law. However, there are some names that are banned in Massachusetts which is good to know.

Massachusetts Isn't The Only State or Place in the World That Has Banned Baby Names

Before we take a deep dive into which names are illegal in Massachusetts, the Baystate isn't alone when it comes to banned baby names. There are places all over the world that have banned certain names for one reason or another. Let's take a look at some of those first before we get to the banned baby name list for Massachusetts.

As We Just Saw in Other Parts of the World There are Quite a Few Name Ideas That are Illegal when Naming a Child. Let's Take a Look at Which Names are Banned in Massachusetts. 

As you may or may not know, there are many celebrities who have children with unique names. Take Nicholas Cage for example. He's a Superman fan and he named his second son  Kal-El Cage. Though this name is off the beaten path, it would be legal to name your child Kal-El in Massachusetts. You also have magician/actor Penn Jillette who named one of his children Moxie CrimeFighter. Again, a bit odd but this would be legal in Massachusetts. Then you have Elon Musk whose third child is named  X Æ A-12. In Elon's case, this name wouldn't fly in Massachusetts. Why? According to Baby Name Quest, the Bay State has a law where only letters found on the standard English keyboard may be used in baby names.

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Which names are Illegal in Massachusetts?

In addition to X Æ A-12, there are 11 other names that are off the table when it comes to naming your Massachusetts baby. As a matter of fact, these 11 names are not just illegal in Massachusetts, but they are illegal across the entire United States. Here we go: