A Mom Found Out Her Son's Name Is Possibly Illegal After Naming Him Kids Activities Blog

Choosing a baby name can be tough. In all honesty, it took quite a while for us to land on the final name for our daughter so I get how tough the decision is. It’s even tougher when you decide to go the route of a unique name rather than something more traditional. With that being said, one mom decided to choose a very unique name and found out her son’s name is possibly illegal in her country after naming him.

A mother of four from Byron Bay, Australia decided to name her son, Citizen Sage Alexander-Johnston. However, after submitting his name on the proper paperwork, she was informed him name would possibly be illegal thus holding up the processing of his name being official.

She found out that “Citizen” in Australia is right up there under the category of a ‘title’ like ‘King’ ‘Duke’ ‘Lord’ or ‘Captain’.

According to Australian law, names that are contrary to the public interest by being “misleading” are often banned. The site states: “the name might contain an official title, position or rank recognised in the community that might mislead others as to whether the person holds that title or rank officially.”

As of a few weeks ago, the name still has not been approved.

View this post on Instagram

Welcome to the family ? Citizen Sage Alexander-Johnston. ? You are ten days old. Four delicious kilos already. My favourite child [as long as you never answer me back or disagree with me at all ever ?]. You have the colouring of your brother Atlas. The face of your brother Everest [Sochi], and …well nothing of your sister Zephyr right now ? but she’s kind of her own person… [and actually the self-titled Boss of You] …you’ll work that out pretty fast, don’t worry, I got you. Sorry this naming business has taken so long! We had a bit of a curveball when we announced your name to our family, as someone pointed out, it’s possibly illegal to name you that in Australia, as it falls loosely under the category of ‘title’ like “King” “Duke” “Lord” or “Captain”. We tried to change it. ‘Disco’ even came back into play! ? But nothing else felt right for you as a Libra, with a [very sensible and grounded] Capricorn moon. ?? So Citizen you are, and always will be- a Citizen of the world. And amazing Sage ?- burning, cleansing, and healing. And in Ancient Greece- a wise man [but you know, no pressure ?]. And look, if you have some rough teenage years, and you just wanna hang in the garage punching bongs with “Benji and the crew”, you can always roll out “Zen” as a nickname, and I’ll bring you all snacks and we’ll get through it. Because I’m already so proud, and so in love with you Citizen Sage. You complete me. Welcome to the family, we’re so glad you’re here. ?? #citizensage

A post shared by Claire Alexander-Johnston (@jetsetmama) on Oct 16, 2019 at 1:16am PDT

Other parents have commented on the mom’s Instagram post showing their support and asking if the name had been approved yet to which the mom replied saying:

“not yet ? they said it’s “borderline” but nobody has ever tried registering it before so ????? we have to wait to see when our paperwork gets back. If they reject it, we’ll just modify it to Zen Sage but still call him Citizen officially ?”

So crazy that a name like that would be banned but hey, rules are rules, right?