children
Do any laws require parents to give their children gender-appropriate names?
<p>Do any laws require parents to give their children gender-appropriate names?</p>

<p>Since you didn’t mention the country, I assume you meant Germany. </p>

<p>Nobody forces <em>potential</em> parents to do anything. But when <em>actual</em> parents register their child’s name, it must be the right gender, and they don’t allow nonsense names either. “A boy named Sue” wouldn’t happen in Germany. </p>

<p>There are some names used for both genders (like Eike), the name “Maria” can be part of a boy’s name, and there are tricky cases like Italian parents wanting to name their son Andrea which is a male name in Italy, but not in Germany. </p>

<p>Since you didn't mention a country, I assume you mean the US.</p>

<p>The First Amendment prevents such a law. A name, given by a parent, is a form of expression, and in the US, the free speech clause of the First Amendment would render a law prohibiting such expression unconstitutional.</p>

<p><a href="/questions/tagged/australia" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;australia&#39;" rel="tag">australia</a></p>

<p>Names can be disqualified by the state registrars if they are prohibited.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"prohibited name" means a name that--</p>
  
  <p>(a) is obscene or offensive, or</p>
  
  <p>(b) could not practicably be established by repute or usage--
  (i) because it is too long, or
  (ii) because it consists of or includes symbols without phonetic significance, or
  (iii) for some other reason, or</p>
  
  <p>(c) includes or resembles an official title or rank, or</p>
  
  <p>(d) is contrary to the public interest for some other reason.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Arguably, (b)(iii) could be used to prohibit a traditionally boys name being used for a girl and vice versa. However, such a decision would almost certainly be challenged by the courts.</p>

<p>In any event, there are no such thing as “boy’s names” or “girl’s names”. They <a href="https://nameberry.com/blog/unisex-baby-names-names-that-morphed-from-blue-to-pink" rel="nofollow noreferrer">change</a>. For example, the sex associated with Alexis, Brook and Hillary today is the exact opposite of what it was 100 years ago. The overwhelming trend is for boys names to be come girls names rather than vice-versa - probably because we live in a declining patriarchy.</p>
