Some parents tried to get a little creative, with some hoping to name their child "E", "T", "III" and "H-Q".
The department said no names were "banned per se" but they must not:
* Include or resemble an official title or rank without adequate justification.
* Cause offence to a reasonable person.
* Be unreasonably long.
But department rules are not so tight as to stop a variety of exotic monikers getting through.
A woman who worked on an educational show travelling around New Zealand schools took note of some of the more unusual names she came across. They included Tequilla, Tchanze pronounced "chance", Truly-Crystal, Legacy-Rogue, Pyxibhel and Donny-Girl.
Principal of Henderson Primary School, Keith Tetzlaff, said teachers had to be extra careful to pronounce "creative" names correctly because they're special to young people.
"There is a trend towards people being quite creative with the names they give to children ... which can sometimes cause a bit of trouble when you first read them," Mr Tetzlaff said.
"But while we might consider them unusual, to them they might not realise their names are particularly special."
He has children called Zabana, Miracle and Jury on his roll.
Mr Tetzlaff said his name was hard enough for people to get right - when he's asked for his surname over the phone he spells it without being prompted.
Most rejected names:
Justice, Justus, Juztice - 63 rejections
King - 29
Princess - 27
Prince - 26
Royal - 21
Major - 9
Duke - 9
Bishop - 8
J - 6
Lucifer - 6
