KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — Creative baby namers, despair!
The National Registration Department (NRD) recently reminded Malaysians of its guidelines on unacceptable names for children, possibly putting a dampener on original thinkers.
The more obvious restrictions include names resembling official titles and honorifics — Datuk, Tan Sri, Puan Sri, Haji, among others — that could be confused with their official versions, although Tun is allowable for those of the lineage.
But in a brief primer posted on Facebook, the department said other names not permissible include those with a negative meaning in Malay or generally considered undesirable.
These also encompass “mipan zuzu”, “Nur Sayunx”, “MybabyGirl”, “Siti Nurtizen”, “Sailormoon”, and “Ultraman”, with the last two being names of Japanese show characters.
“Busuk (smelly)”, “bodoh (stupid)”, “harimau (tiger)”, and “evil” were among other given examples.
Also included in the list of examples was the Gen-A slang word “skibidi,” whose meaning varies depending on the context of its use, but is generally negative.
Ham-fisted typists should also be relieved to know that the NRD will not accept names resembling typos or are otherwise hard to pronounce, meaning it will not let through “chuynx”, “ytjt”, or “usyux”. For the unfamiliar, these are Malay slang for “sayang”, “yang tau je tau” (similar to “iykyk” in English), and “busuk” respectively.
While it isn’t specified, this should also rule out X Æ A-Xii (sorry, Elon Musk fans).
The final rule is a generous 80-character limit on the total name length, meaning one might get away with “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia”, which is only 71 characters including the space.
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