A New Zealand mother has reportedly named her three children Metallica, Slayer and Pantera.
The news of the unidentified woman’s choice of names for her kids was first broken by New Zealand journalist and documentary filmmaker David Farrier (Netflix‘s “Dark Tourist”).
“Proud to report that a New Zealand mother has named her children Metallica, Pantera and Slayer,” Farrier wrote on his Twitter. “She told me, ‘It’s not easy raising three of the heaviest bands.'”
Farrier went on to say that he has seen the birth certificates of all three kids and admitted that he was was initially suspicious, especially after noticing that Metallica had a middle name of “And Justice For All”, in honor of the band’s fourth album.
“I reached out to the Registrar-General himself, asking if there are any restrictions naming babies after band names, or albums,” Farrier wrote. New Zealand Registrar-General Jeff Montgomery answered that “there are no restrictions on naming babies after bands or albums, as long as the word used is not generally considered to be offensive or does not resemble an official rank or title.”
Farrier shared a photo of the woman and included the following message: “I think it’s important to note (as you can see in the photo in my article) this mother is also a big fan of crossbows, which are also truly metal, and she deserves our complete and utter respect for this (and for raising three kids).”
According to Good Housekeeping, very few baby names in the United States are actually forbidden, with naming laws set by each state and some states having more requirements than others. In some other countries, however, there are much stricter naming laws, with some requiring parents to choose from a pre-approved list of names, or petition the government to add a name to the list.
Most U.S. states prohibit using baby names with numerals in it, obscenities, and some states have character limits for the first name.
thread 1/4: proud to report that a new zealand mother has named her children metallica, pantera and slayer. she told me “it’s not easy raising three of the heaviest bands”: https://t.co/kiXGTrr60A
— David Farrier (@davidfarrier) July 7, 2021
thread 2/4: i become a bit suspicious when she also included @metallica‘s best album “…and justice for all” in her kid’s name too, but new zealand’s registrar-general seems to confirm it’s a real thing: pic.twitter.com/1jOy5AUWxT
— David Farrier (@davidfarrier) July 7, 2021
thread 3/4: … plus, i’ve seen the birth certificates. anyway, waiting for comment from @metallica , @slayer and @pantera as clearly this metal mother (and her kids) deserve free metal gigs for life
— David Farrier (@davidfarrier) July 7, 2021
thread 4/4: finally, i think it’s important to note (as you can see in the photo in my article) this mother is also a big fan of crossbows which are also truly metal and she deserves our complete and utter respect for this (and for raising three kids): https://t.co/kiXGTrr60A
— David Farrier (@davidfarrier) July 7, 2021
