If you live in France and want to name your child Nutella, you can forget it, at least according to one French court.
In a recent ruling, a French judge forced a baby named Nutella to find a new name, after a judge in Valenciennes ruled that naming the child after the delicious chocolate and hazelnut spread was against the child's best interests.
The judge renamed the baby girl, born in September 2014, Ella after her parents refused to show up in court.
"The name 'Nutella' given to the child is the trade name of a spread," reads the court's decision. "And it is contrary to the child's interest to be wearing a name like that can only lead to teasing or disparaging thoughts."
Considering celebrities name their kids after food and other weird things all the time, the decision could come as a surprise. Gwyneth Paltrow has a girl named Apple, while Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's child is North, as in North West.
Food-based names are especially popular in Hollywood. Both Claudia Schiffer and Ethan Hawke have daughters named Clementine, with Jack Osbourne using that same moniker for his daughter's middle name. Drew Barrymore and Sacha Baron Cohen have a child named Olive, while Jason Bateman named his child Maple.
However, none of those are actually a trademarked food, so perhaps that's why the French court ruled the way it did. But the French court also recently ruled on the name "Fraise," too, which is the French word for strawberry. In that case, the court said the name had an "air of mockery."
Some countries have even stricter rules for baby names. New Zealand has a banned baby names list (in its defense, though, names banned include Lucifer and Anus). Portugal has a list of approved baby names and anything not on that list could be subject to ban. Iceland also has an approved list of names, with the rule that baby names have only letters found in the Icelandic alphabet.
In France, the rules are less strict, and parents can choose whatever name they'd like for their child. However, as is the case for both Nutella and Fraise, the court can ban a name if its use is contrary to the child's best interests.
In fact, it's probably in the child's best interest that parents skip the uniquely weird names altogether. Sometimes, especially with names, it's a good idea to stick with the classics.
That is, of course, unless you're Benedict Cumberbatch.
[Photo Credit: Brian Cantoni/Flickr]
