Banned baby names - Mafia No Fear, Anal and V8

Mafia No Fear, Anal and V8 are among some of the names parents have tried to call their children in New Zealand.

The Department of Internal Affairs has rejected hundreds of names put forward by parents over the past decade that are deemed inappropriate, offensive or too long.

Some rejected names include Jesus and Lucifer, which Internal Affairs spokesman Ross McPherson said falls outside the Government's limits.

"A name can be rejected if it might be offensive to a reasonable person, or if it is unreasonably long, or if it resembles or includes an official rank or title," McPherson said.

Child psychologist David Stebbings said he has worked extensively with children who have unusual names, including some named after drugs.

"Having an unusual name by definition singles you out, makes you different and the sort of difference that that seems to create, in my experience, is unfavourable," he said.

Calling a child Justice is the most popular disallowed name, as well as royal titles, religious references and punctuation marks.