A SAME-SEX COUPLE who attempted to give their baby boy "a girl's name" have been banned from doing so in France.

The child was born in January this year and his female parents decided to name him 'Ambre' - the French version of the traditionally female moniker 'Amber'.

However, they were reported to the local prosecutor by a registrar shortly after they went to officially register his birth in the town of Lorient, Brittany.

The prosecutor decided that the name risked "confusing the child about its gender in a way that could be harmful" in later life and challenged its registration.

The couple fought the decision and initially won, but the case was appealed and will not be heard again until April 2019.


'Name police'

"Society is very unfair, it lets ridiculous first names pass," Alice Gondelle, one of the baby's mums told France Bleu.

Ms Gondelle added that the legal proceedings involved are "very long" and claimed it would be impossible to give Ambre a new name by the time he is two years old.

She said she is aware of 37 males named Ambre living in France.

It is not the first time that parents in France have fallen foul of rules regarding baby names.

Up until 1993, French parents had to choose a name for their baby from a long list of acceptable "prenoms" outlined by the authorities.

The 'name list' was later scrapped under President François Mitterand, but courts can still reject any name they feel isn't in the child's best interests.


Previously, names such as Nutella, Manhattan and Fraise (Strawberry) have been barred by the country's 'name police'.

Earlier this year, a couple were barred from calling their baby girl 'Liam' over similar gender confusion fears.

Parents have also been banned from giving their babies traditional Breton names, because many have characters that do not exist in the French language.

Last January, a mother and father from Brittany were blocked from naming their son 'Derc'hen', while in September another Breton couple were banned from choosing the name 'Fañch'.