We Were Shocked to Learn About the Laws Against Baby Names in Illinois

Naming a baby is a high-pressure situation.

When I was expecting our first daughter, my husband and I each wrote a list of baby names we liked, then we compiled a new "short" list from the names we both agreed on to make our final decision. This process took several months and required hours of piling over baby names on the internet to even find ones we liked and that wasn't what we considered common. During all the research we did to find the perfect name for our baby girls, the one thing I know we both never considered was if there were any laws against baby name choices in Illinois.

Are There Laws Against Baby Names in Illinois?

My days of expecting babies may be gone, but I just had to find out if there were any laws against what you can name your baby Illinois. What I found was quite surprising...

Illinois may seem to have laws about or against everything, but baby names are not one of them!

A simple Google search brought me to an article on thebump.com about the "Craziest Baby Naming Laws by State". As any good Illinoian should do, I immediately scrolled down for information about our state and saw;

There are no restrictions on what a parent may name a child. Recent updates to the state’s computer networks even allow for quirky names such as “1Der” or “2-Riffic.”

You could seriously name your child Se7en or Gr8t and Illinois couldn't care less, but your baby may end up disapproving.

There are several states in our country that REALLY care about what you name your baby. Some of the wackiest laws I found on thebump.com are;

• You'll be busted in Arizona if your child's name has more than 141 characters (first, middle, last, suffix names are included in the limit)
• In California, baby names can only contain the 26 letters of the English alphabet, and no derogatory or obscene names are allowed.
• If both parents don't agree on the first name of their child in Florida, no name is put on the birth certificate.
• In Indiana, if the mother is unmarried at birth, the child is given the mother's last name unless legal paternity is proven.
• Don't even think about naming your baby "Babyboy", "Babygirl", "Infant" or "Test" in Arkansas, it will be unaccepted by their system.
• Vermont law actually says, "You may use trademarked names (IBM), diseases (Anthrax), and obscenities, but we highly recommend against it.” (LOL!)