Judge: Girl's name a 'social disability'

NEW PLYMOUTH, New Zealand, July 24 (UPI) -- A New Zealand Family Court judge has removed a 9-year-old girl from her parents' custody after her name was revealed as Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.

Family Court Judge Rob Murfitt ruled at the hearing in the city of New Plymouth for the child to be temporarily placed under the guardianship of the court to allow for a name to be chosen that doesn't give the girl a "social disability," the Taranaki Daily News reported Friday.

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

The court was told the girl, whose birth was not officially registered in New Zealand, refused to tell her name to her friends.