Parents no longer allowed to give babies names with more than 80 letters and no more short names such as Mohd or Abd

Short and sweet: Parents no longer allowed to give babies overly-long names

Bernama/ NST
New Straits Times29 September 2018



ARAU: Parents are now prohibited from registering their newborn children with names that have more than 80 letters.

The move was announced today by National Registration Department (NRD) deputy director-general (Operations) Jasri Kasim, who added that the longest name in the NRD’s current records comprises four words and an astounding 78 letters.

He said parents must bear in mind that saddling children with long names may negatively impact them in the future. Problems may arise when the child has to fill an official form with limited space, or when they go overseas, World of Buzz reported.

“The NRD also does not encourage parents to give their children names with unpleasant definitions,” he said when met at the NRD Mobile Convoy programme here.

Jasri also said that short forms of names will no longer be allowed – such as ‘Abd’ and ‘Mohd’, which must now be spelled in full as ‘Abdul’ and ‘Mohamad’. © New Straits Times