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Woman Gives Newborn Baby Such A Bizarre Name The Government Had To Issue A Response

Baby stroller on pavement. This image does not depict the stroller mentioned in the story. [Evgeny Bakharev/Shutterstock]

This image does not depict the stroller mentioned in the story. [Evgeny Bakharev/Shutterstock]

Fiona McLoughlin Contributor
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Australian journalist Kristen Drysdale was curious if there’s anything you can’t name your baby in Australia, so she named her newborn son “Methamphetamine Rules,” news.com.au reported Tuesday.

Drysdale, part of Australian Broadcasting Company’s (ABC) new show “What the FAQ,” aims to investigate the answers to viewers’ burning questions. The question, “what can I legally name my baby?,” has come up numerous times.

As part of a test, she submitted her son’s given name to New South Wales (NSW) Births, Deaths, and Marriages as “Methamphetamine Rules,” according to news.com.au.

“We thought we would submit the most outrageous name we could think of, assuming it would be rejected,” she told the outlet. “But it didn’t turn out that way – unfortunately ‘Methamphetamine Rules’ slipped through the cracks.”

While Drysdale was researching the story, which airs Wednesday, she was under the impression that the registrar picks a name for the child if the parents’ submission is rejected.

“We will not register a name if we find it to be offensive or not in the public interest,” according to the registry’s website. (RELATED: Elon Musk, Grimes’ Baby’s Legal Name Is Just As Bizarre As The Real Name).

“If the name intended for a baby cannot be registered and the parents do not provide an alternative, the Registrar may assign a name so that the child’s birth can be legally registered,” the website states.

“It was really just a lighthearted, curious attempt to get an answer to this question,” Drysdale said.

“I don’t know how it slipped through,” she continued. “I’m not sure if someone was overworked, or if it was automated somewhere.”

A spokesperson for NSW Births, Deaths, and Marriages said the “unusual name” had “unfortunately slipped through,” according to the Guardian.

The spokesperson told the outlet that the registry’s process has been strengthened due to the event and they will be working with the family to change the baby’s name.

The original name doesn’t go away, as “a name registered at birth remains on the NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages Register forever,” the spokesperson told the outlet. “Even if the name is formally changed.”

Drysdale explained she was stuck between the names “Methamphetamine Rules” and “Nangs Rule,” which is Australian slang for nitrous oxide canisters used to get high. She decided against using Nangs in case the registry didn’t know what it meant and it got approved because of that, according to the Guardian.

She explained it took some convincing for her husband to agree to the experiment.

Drysdale has chosen not to reveal her baby’s new name.

“He’s a very chill child, a beautiful baby boy, so not anything like a meth user.”