A large majority of Americans think that parents have the right to give their children whatever name they wish - even if it is strange or offensive.
Many countries around the world have laws limiting the rights of parents to give their children whatever name they wish. Many require that parents choose names the clearly indicate gender, but others only prohibit offensive names. New Zealand recently updated its list of prohibited names, a list which includes 'Lucifer', '4real' and 'Justice', which was the most commonly rejected.
Despite this, YouGov's latest research shows that Americans overwhelmingly reject such measures. 69% think that parents should be able to name their children whatever they want, while only 12% support some limits on what children can be named.
Every demographic group has a large majority against government regulation of names but Democrats (17%) are more likely than Republicans (7%) to support government rules on baby names.
Complete results are available here.
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