Todd Carney wants to call his son King Daryl. Problem is, it’s one of 89 banned baby names

Noah was the most popular boy’s name in five of Australia’s states and territories last year, but a list of the country’s top baby monikers is not where ex-NRL champion Todd Carney and cosmetic nurse Susie Bradley found inspiration for their newborn.

As the former Married At First Sight bride wrote in her son’s Instagram birth announcement, the couple chose a name “which denotes strength, confidence and leadership.” It’s also banned.

“King Daryl Carney” joined his older brother, Lion, and sister, Baby, on the Gold Coast on February 22. How long he will be known as such is a matter for Queensland’s Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, which must receive his birth registration from his parents within 60 days.

The child won’t be issued a birth certificate until after the registration is successfully processed. That usually takes up to 10 business days, or longer if there is a problem. In this case, the state’s prohibited name policy is a problem for Carney and Bradley.

Each state and territory has its own specific Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, though the rules are generally consistent across the country.

From Queensland to Tasmania and beyond, a name is prohibited if it’s obscene or offensive, could not practicably be established by repute or usage (too long, includes symbols without phonetic significance), or is contrary to the public interest.

Under this umbrella is a ban on names resembling an official title or rank – King, Queen, Princess, Lord, Prime Minister, Admiral, Dalai Lama, Pope, Professor – and names that are misleading because of similarity with the name of an organisation or body. (Of the 89 names deemed illegal in Australia, Ikea, Nutella and Harry Potter are on the list, but Velociraptor, which was banned in Finland in 2024, is not at this stage).

Brother, Sister and Father were among the 46 names Victoria said were banned in 2016, though Mother was not included on the detailed – but not comprehensive – list.

The NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, meanwhile, explicitly states names that form statements – May The Force Be With You, for example – or sentences are banned.

The system, however, is not foolproof.

The Western Australian MP formerly known as Ben Dawkins legally changed his name to Austin Trump ahead of last year’s state election. He said was an act of political protest against Labor, who kicked him out of the party in 2023, when his multiple breaches of a family violence restraining order were made public. He was not re-elected, but is still listed as “Hon Austin (Aussie) Trump” on WA Parliament’s website.

In 2023, journalist Kirsten Drysdale successfully registered her third son’s name as “Methamphetamine Rules” in a move a spokesperson for the NSW registry said was a “highly unusual event”.

“We chose methamphetamine thinking there’s no way that anyone will see that word and think it’s OK,” Drysdale said at the time, according to The Guardian. “But we were wrong.”

A spokesperson for Queensland’s Department of Justice told this masthead that the state’s births, deaths and marriages registry does not comment on specific name applications due to privacy reasons.

“If someone seeks to register a name that might be prohibited, [the registry] will work with them to ensure the proposed name is meaningful to the family, reflects community expectations, and can be registered,” the spokesperson said.

Generally, if a name chosen for a child is unable to be registered, and the registrar is satisfied that the parents cannot agree on a new name for the child, the registry can assign a new name to the child.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.