The British baby names that are BANNED around the world
CHOOSING a baby name can be extremely difficult for expectant parents.
But it's even tougher when the country you're living in has a list of banned names - and some are completely normal like Linda and Harriet.
Most countries have laws restricting the names that parents can legally give their kids, and some have a specific list of banned names.
We've rounded up the countries that have banned some common British baby names.
Australia
Nationally, Australia has banned all names that might be offensive, contain symbols or are misleading.
But the Australian state of Victoria has banned a much longer list of names, which includes all official titles, such as the name Honour, which was a name given to eight baby girls in the UK last year.
Iceland
Iceland has a naming committee which maintains an official register of approved Icelandic names and decides whether new names are suitable to be added into the country's culture.
Several British names have been rejected by the committee, including Zoe, Harriet and Duncan.
Other banned names include Ariel, Lady, Zelda and Ezra.
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Malaysia
Malaysia has banned all baby names that are flowers, including the common British names Poppy and Violet.
Morocco
Sarah is a common name in the UK, but it is banned in Morocco.
The Moroccan government has banned it as it is considered as having Hebrew spelling, but the name Sara is still allowed.
Portugal
In Portugal, the government keeps an 80-page guide to which baby names are allowed and which are forbidden.
Aiden, Ashley, Bruce, Charlotte, Dylan and Jenny are all banned, with foreign names not permitted to be used for Portuguese babies.
Portugal also has a regulation stating you can't give your child a nickname as its official name, so the name Tom is banned but the name Tomas is not.
Saudi Arabia
A list of 50 names has been banned by Saudi Arabia, which includes several common British names, such as Alice, Lauren, Linda and Maya.
Sweden
Fans of the king of rock and roll can't name their child after him if they live in Sweden.
Elvis is on the list of banned baby names, which also includes Metallica and Ikea.
We've rounded up other baby names banned around the world - including Nutella, Lucifer and Robocop.
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These are the most popular baby names for each region in the UK.
And we've got the most popular names for babies that were born last month - including Isla, Ava and Charlotte.
