No naming restriction for parents, says NRD

PETALING JAYA: There are no restrictions for parents naming their children and the decision lies fully with them, said the National Registration Department (NRD).

However, the department said it had guidelines and would advise the parents should they want to register with a name that might not be appropriate.

Inappropriate names, said NRD in a statement yesterday, could be grouped into two categories – Objectionable and Undesirable.

Objectionable names include nicknames, names with obscene meanings, names with initials or names that are too brief.

Names referring to someone else’s descent such as Tengku, Megat and Dayang also fall under this category.

Undesirable names include funny names or those that refer to animals, fruits, tools, the alphabet or numbers, or a combination of the alphabet and numbers.

NRD said parents who still wished to keep the chosen name for their child had to submit an application stating that they had agreed to name their child so.

Until now, NRD said it had yet to put a limit on the number of letters to a name.

“It must be explained that the name for one’s birth certificate will also be used for the MyKad. The space for the name to appear on the MyKad currently can only display up to 80 characters,” it said.

Anyone with a name over 80 characters, added NRD, would be given a verification card confirming that his or her name could not fit into the MyKad.