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They’ve put the glitter in the gutter.
Japan has officially cracked down on “kirakira” — meaning “shiny” or “glittery” — baby names, with a new law aimed at dimming the dazzle of outlandish monikers like Pikachu, Prince and, yes, Devil.
Among the newly discouraged names? Jewel, Lovely, Kitty, Elsa, Prince, Naruto, Pikachu, Naiki (as in “Nike”), Pū (like Winnie-the-Pooh), Purin (like pudding), Daiya (meaning diamond), and Ōjisama (meaning prince), per the South China Morning Post.
The crackdown, effective May 26, is part of a revision to the Family Register Act, giving local authorities power to reject any name they deem too outrageous or tricky to pronounce, originally reported on by Today.com.
Why? To ensure names don’t have “a negative impact on a child’s future.”
Blame it on one devilish dad.
In 1994, Shigeru and Ayako Sato sparked national outrage when they named their newborn son Akuma — which translates to “Devil.”
According to the South China Morning Post, the decades-long effort to ban kirakira names began with that headline-making hellraiser.
Sato defended the diabolical decision at the time, telling the Los Angeles Times, “There will only be one Japanese (person) with this name. If you hear it once, you’ll never forget the name … It is the best possible name.”
Spoiler: It wasn’t. After officials initially approved the name, public backlash and a court battle forced the couple to swap it for something less infernal.
Still, Sato wasn’t done dreaming big. He reportedly wanted to name a future son Teio — meaning “Emperor” — though he conceded he’d give a daughter “an ordinary, cute name.”
Now, the Japanese government is making sure no one follows in his fire-stamped footsteps.
And Japan isn’t the only nation reigning in rogue registrations.
As the New York Post previously reported, New Zealand also has a list of forbidden names — and it’s royally strict.
King topped its recent list of banned baby names, followed by Prince, Princess, Queen, Majesty, Duke, Emperor and Crown, as per CNN.
“It’s a name fit for a king — unless you’re a Kiwi,” The Post noted, after all 11 parents who tried to name their baby King were shut down.
“We continue to urge parents to think carefully about names,” John Crawford-Smith, Principal Advisor at New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs, told CNN. “Names are a gift.”
Under the country’s naming law, monikers can’t be “offensive,” unreasonably long, include numbers or symbols, or resemble official titles “without adequate justification.”
Even cannabis-inspired names like Sativa and Indica got the axe — as did the formerly beloved, now banned Fanny.
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