Photo: 123RF
Adrienne Madsen and her then-husband decided on the name Jordan before their son was born 10 years ago.
But "we never called him Jordan. Always called him bubba or pepi. Something just wasn't right," said the 32-year-old mother who lives in King Country. It was a bummer that his birth announcement had already gone out in the local paper under Jordan.
Ten weeks later, Madsen told Jordan's father that she felt Jordan was really a Benjamin. He could take inspiration from great Benjamins in history: Benjamin Franklin, the US founding father, and former All Blacks Ben Smith and Benji Marshall.
The father agreed. The next day, Jordan officially became Benjamin after Madsen pleaded with Births, Deaths and Marriages for a name change without the paperwork. She still has cards from well-wishers with the name "Jordan."
Madsen certainly isn't alone in not vibing with her kid's name. Kardashian clan member Kylie Jenner recently fleshed out more details about switching her son's name from Wolf to Knight before landing on Aire a year after his February 2022 birth.
"When I met him, he was just the most beautiful thing to me and I couldn't believe just how perfect he was," Jenner told British Vogue after appearing on this month's magazine cover.
Kylie Jenner took 12 months to decide on the name of her second child. Photo: AFP
"I felt like such a failure that I couldn't name him. He deserved so much more than that. It just really triggered me," she added while talking about the postpartum depression she experienced after birthing both her children.
Close to 400 first name changes for children aged 15 and under were registered in New Zealand in the year ending July 31, 2024, according to Russell Burnard, the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages. There were about 55,000 births in that period and - if we use a rudimentary calculation - about 0.7 percent of those kids could be headed for a name change.
New Zealanders can change the first or last name (or both) of their child once without much hassle before the age of two by submitting a form with a $55 fee. A new birth certificate is an additional charge. If you go for a second name change within those two years, the law requires "the Registrar-General to be satisfied there is a special reason that makes it appropriate to do so, so a reason needs to be provided," said Burnard, in a statement to RNZ.
After the age of two, a name change is more complicated with a witness needed for the form's signing and certified copies of the parent's or guardians' identification. The cost is $170 plus the cost of a new birth certificate. From the age of 16, a child can change their own name with parent consent.
Jana Nordstrand with her daughter Lucia. Photo: supplied
Jana Nordstrand changed the spelling of her now six-year-old daughter Lucia's name to save people spelling it wrong. Her name was originally Luchia, the "h" added hoping to get people to pronounce her name correctly, as in "Loo-chia." It didn't work.
Nordstrand's own parents had done something similar with her name. Originally, they spelt it Yana only for her to have to correct the pronunciation or the spelling.
"We knew it was wrong when we put the 'h' in, but I just didn't want to have her to deal with Luchia. Lucia, her whole life," she said.
When her daughter turned one, they officially dropped the 'h' and went with the name's traditional spelling.
It's a cautionary tale for parents trying to add uniqueness to a name by mixing up the spelling, Nordstrand said, like Khloe Kardashian instead of the normal Chloe.
"...Forever having to spell your name and correct it - it's just another element of hassle that you really don't need in your life," she said.
