Courts rule that parents can't name their babies Nutella or Strawberry

Parents in northern France have been refused permission to name their baby Nutella, while another couple was similarly denied the chance to name their daughter "fraise" (strawberry), because "it wasn't in the child's best interests".

The two sets of parents were so enamoured with the foodstuffs usually associated with the French breakfast table that they officially applied to name their children after them. But they were both denied by court rulings.



One set of parents in Valenciennes, northern France, requested permission to name their child Nutella after the hazelnut chocolate spread from Italy, but a judge ruled that it "wasn't in the best interests of the child" and that she would risk "being mocked". The girl will have to settle for the name Ella.

Another set of parents, meanwhile, were refused after applying to name their child Fraise (strawberry). The couple, from Raismes, were told by a judge that the girl could also face mockery, especially by people using the expression "ramène ta fraise" - a slang phrase roughly meaning "get your ass over here". This girl will instead get the moniker "Fraisine", a name that's been around in France since the 19th century.