Illinois’s Baby Name Laws Are Very Unique And Absolutely Wild

Naming a baby requires a lot of thought and Illinois's laws over what you can name your baby are very interesting.

We're in an era where modern naming conventions can get annoying, like adding '-eigh' onto a girl's name or adding in extra x's and y's to a name. And there are classic baby names that Midwesterners love, like Oliver for a boy and Olivia for a girl.

You have to remember that what you're naming this kid will likely follow him or her around for the rest of their life. This isn't the time to be different for the sake of being different.

What You Can't Name Your Kid

Different states have different rules on what you can and can't name your child. Some countries get in on the name restriction thing too- my name, Sarah, is banned in Morocco.

The Bump says a lot of states don't allow things like numbers or special characters (exclamation points, etc.) to be in a kid's name. It's specifics like only letters on an English keyboard, you can't name your kid a swear word, and no diacritical marks (the accent marks).

It sounds like the rules for picking out a personalized license plate, doesn't it?

And Then There's Illinois

It seems a lot of the naming laws in the U.S. are in place just for the sake of clarity. Some states are more relaxed on naming laws than others. Illinois, meanwhile, will let just about anything fly. 

Not only can you have letters and things like dashes in a kid's name but you can name them literally whatever you want.

The Bump says:

There are no restrictions on what a parent may name a child. Recent updates to the state’s computer networks even allow for quirky names such as “1Der” or “2-Riffic.” So far, no parent has taken advantage of this with baby’s first name, but there’s a child whose middle name is “7.”

If my parents named me '2-Riffic', they'd be going into a home right now.

Does giving a kid the middle name '7' help you keep track of the number he/she is in the pool of offspring? In that case, it's surely logistically sound.

Illinois is one of only two states- Kentucky being the other- that is chill on naming restrictions.

Last Name Laws

As far as last names go in Illinois, the baby can get the mom's last name, or the dad's last name, or they can pick a last name for the baby to have, according to the state.