No silly names

Judge Makes Girl, 9, Ward of the Court to Rid Her of 'Talula Does the Hula' Name

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.

Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. He had her renamed.

Judge Rob Murfitt made the 9-year-old girl a ward of the court so that her name could be changed, he said in a ruling made public Thursday. The girl was involved in a custody battle, he said.

The new name was not made public to protect the girl's privacy....

In his ruling, Murfitt cited a list of the unfortunate names.

Registration officials blocked some names, including Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit, he said. But others were allowed, including Number 16 Bus Shelter "and tragically, Violence," he said.

New Zealand law does not allow names that would cause offense to a reasonable person, among other conditions, said Brian Clarke, the registrar general of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Clarke said officials usually talked to parents who proposed unusual names to convince them about the potential for embarrassment.

In cases such as this, I think that the court should not only intervene to relieve the children from these obnoxious names, but they should go the next step and rename the parents, too. Maybe something like, "Asshat." Or, "FAIL!"

Barack Hussein Obama could not be reached for comment.