A very different kind of Meth baby
Parents have really gone wild with kids names in recent years, especially celebrity parents.
Like Elon Musk and Grimes.
X Æ A-XII – the name they gave their daughter – really slips off the tongue.
But a mum from New South Wales, Australia, has really taken the cake… well, the crack pipe.
Kirsten Drysdale, an ABC journalist, wanted to test how far she could push the bay naming barrow. So called her kid, Methamphetamine Rules. Meth is a potent central nervous system stimulant often used as a recreational drug and made – more – famous by the TV series, Breaking Bad.
Kirsten was somewhat shocked the name was accepted and now has a bit of admin on her hands to change it .
Kirsten works for ABC’s WTFAQ programme. The show tries to answer questions that have sparked “curiosity in the minds of our audience” and often do so in an amusing way.
So, Kirsten, often asked by people what they can call their children, and how far they can go, sought to find out, taking a first-person approach.
Kirsten wanted to find out what happens when the Registrar default names a child if the parents’ first submission is rejected for whatever reason.
After being unable to get the answers she wanted, the heavily pregnant woman decided the timing was perfect to run a test.
She told news.com.au: “We thought, what is the most outrageous name we can think of that will definitely not be accepted?
“‘Methamphetamine Rules’ we thought would surely get rejected, and then when it does, we can find out what name the Registrar chooses.”
“It was really just a lighthearted, curious attempt to get an answer to this question.”
Problem was, the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages let the name through.
Kristen was left mortified.
To make matters even worse, Kirsten also received the official birth certificate of her child arrived in the mail, with ‘Methamphetamine Rules’ listed as her son’s given name.
“I don’t know how it slipped through,” she said.
“I’m not sure if someone was overworked, or if it was automated somewhere.”
Kirsten wondered: “Or possibly, maybe they thought Methamphetamine was a Greek name. They haven’t really given us a clear answer.”
The Registrar has since admitted the mistake and confirmed that Kirsten’s son’s “normal” name will be approved imminently.
A spokesperson for NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages has since explained to prospective parents that names registered at birth remain on the register “forever, even if the name is formally changed”.
A spokesperson described the situation as “highly unusual”, but added: “The Registry has since strengthened its processes in response to this highly unusual event. “The vast majority of parents do not choose a name for their newborn baby that is obscene, offensive or contrary to the public interest.”
