A MUM who named her newborn son Citizen has discovered that the unique moniker could be illegal.
Claire Alexander-Johnston, who runs the Instagram account Jetsetmama, introduced her son to her followers last week where she unveiled his name.
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The mum-of-four from Byron Bay, Australia, revealed that the naming process had taken longer than expected after she ran into some legal trouble.
Sharing two photos of her son, she wrote: “Welcome to the family Citizen Sage Alexander-Johnston.
“Sorry this naming business has taken so long! We had a bit of a curveball when we announced your name to our family, as someone pointed out, it’s possibly illegal to name you that in Australia, as it falls loosely under the category of ‘title’ like ‘King’ ‘Duke’ ‘Lord’ or ‘Captain’.
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“We tried to change it. ‘Disco’ even came back into play! But nothing else felt right for you as a Libra, with a [very sensible and grounded] Capricorn moon. So Citizen you are, and always will be- a Citizen of the world.”
According to Australian law, names that are contrary to the public interest by being “misleading” are banned.
It states “the name might contain an official title, position or rank recognised in the community that might mislead others as to whether the person holds that title or rank officially.”
The same laws apply in the UK with banned names including Lord, Lady, General and Captain.
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As well as the unusual first name, Citizen’s middle name is also far from run of the mill, with his parents settling on Sage.
Claire adds: “And amazing Sage ?- burning, cleansing, and healing. And in Ancient Greece- a wise man [but you know, no pressure ].”
Claire, who is already mum to Atlas, Everest and Zephyr, even described Citizen as her “favourite child.”
The name was enough to divide Claire’s followers, with many admitting they were unsure about her bold choice.
One commented: “Hmm!! Not sure but good on you for being ORIGINAL!!”
Another agreed adding: “Is his name really Citizen??”
But others were in high praise of her name choice.
“Love such a solid meaningful name!” commented one, while another wrote “What an amazing name!!!”
In other news, we previously told you that Nutella and Cyanide are among the most daft baby names that parents have been banned from giving their kids.
