In a 1985 article about West Germany’s “penchant for over-regulation,” I spotted two rejected baby names: Schroeder (after the Peanuts character) and Hemingway (after the author).
Both were rejected for being surnames.
The director of the Bonn city registry office commented: “Names help create a certain order. If a name is on a list and nobody knows if it’s a man or a woman, then difficulties can arise.”
[West Germany lasted from 1949 until reunification in 1990.]
Source: “Rules, rules, rules.” Anchorage Daily News 9 Jun. 1985: A1+.
I came across a girl (under 10) named Hemingway. Her father was calling her Hemi as a nickname.
Neither’s too appealing though I don’t think there’s any good reason they should be rejected — the registry director’s reasoning reads like a total German stereotype!