It may not be up there with Lucifer, Anal or V8 but Nelson baby Alfie Biggs had his middle name rejected for the exact same reason – it was on the government’s banned list for baby names.
But his mother wouldn’t have that and successfully argued the ban, receiving his birth certificate last week with his full name – Alfie Baron Biggs.
Each year the Department of Internal Affairs releases a snapshot of the most rejected names. This year they included Juztice, King, Majesty, E, Mafia No Fear, 4Real and Rogue. Others tried to call their children by symbols like full stop (.), a star (*) and 89.
Baron falls in the “royals” list of banned names that also includes King, Princess and Royal.
But Marianne Hart-Biggs argued the name wasn’t about giving her son a “title”, just something meaningful.
“Baron came from where Glen and I lived in London when we got married. We lived in Baron’s Court and we always had that in our mind for a middle name if we were to have a son.”
She says it never dawned on her that the name would be banned and was in shock when a letter arrived from the department of internal affairs to say the name had been rejected.
“I got a letter back and my friend who was reading it over my shoulder said ‘ah, this is awkward’. I thought ‘oh, what am I going to do now?’”
After a week of thinking about it with her husband Glen, Marianne decided to write back and try to argue the name should be allowed but conceded it was a long shot.
“When I wrote back the first point I made is that his name is Alfie and his title is Master, Baron is his middle name. The only times it will be seen is on his passport and drivers licence. Basically no one is going to refer to him as Alfie Baron Biggs.
“I explained the sentiment behind the name and I sent in a copy of our marriage certificate that showed our address in Baron’s Court when we got married but I thought there is no way they’re going to accept this.”
To her shock a package arrive a couple of weeks later with Alfie’s birth certificate, including his middle name. Marianne says she did a “wee jig” at the letterbox. “I was so happy, I called Glen and said ‘our boy has a middle name’.”
She says he’s been sleeping through the night much better since the birth certificate arrived.
“He couldn’t sleep before without his middle name, he’s much more settled now and I feel like he is complete.”
