A judge in New Zealand made a young girl a ward of court so that she could change the name she hated - Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.

Judge Rob Murfitt said that the name embarrassed the nine-year-old and could expose her to teasing.

He attacked a trend of giving children bizarre name, citing several examples.

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'Social handicap'

The ruling, in the city of New Plymouth on the North Island, was handed down in February but only made public now.

The name issue emerged during a custody hearing for the young girl - who had refused to tell her friends her name and went simply by "K".

"The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment which this child's parents have shown in choosing this name," Judge Murfitt wrote.

"It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily."

Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii's name has now been changed and the custody case resolved, court officials said.

New Zealand does not allow names that would cause offence or that are longer than 100 characters, Registrar-General Brian Clarke said.

Officials often tried to talk parents out of particularly unusual choices that could embarrass their offspring, the Associated Press news agency quoted him as saying.

(BBC)

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