A British couple from Derbyshire have successfully managed to name their son Lucifer, despite opposition from council employees, and the obvious fact that it is another name for the devil.
The registrar at Derbyshire Council reportedly told Dan and Mandy Sheldon that their young son ‘wouldn’t succeed in life’ with a name like Lucifer, so they lodged an official complaint and have now managed to register the name.
They claimed that they are not religious at all, and that the name is a reference to the Greek meaning of the name ‘light bringer’ or ‘morning’.
However, there’s some other pretty clear connotations associated with that particular moniker.
The 37-year-old Dan and his 32-year-old wife went along to the Chesterfield registry officer near to their home to register as soon as it reopened after lockdown.
However, they were then made to leave the room whilst the employee checked to see if there was any reason they couldn’t give their son the name they wanted.
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Dan told The Sun: “We were really excited to go and get him registered but the woman looked at us in utter disgust.
“She told us he would never be able to get a job, and that teachers wouldn’t want to teach him.
“I tried to explain that we are not religious people, and Lucifer in Greek means ‘light-bringer’ and ‘morning’ but she wouldn’t listen.
“She even told us that it was illegal to name a child that in New Zealand and that maybe we could name him something else but refer to him as Lucifer at home.”
Despite the council employee’s efforts, there was no legal reason found, and they have now been allowed to name their son Lucifer.
Dan added: “We were gobsmacked with her behaviour.
“Eventually she did it, but it was through gritted teeth.
“Honestly, we just thought it was a nice name…a unique one. We didn’t expect to get so much grief about it.”
A spokesperson for Derbyshire County Council said: “We apologise if they were offended but it is the job of our registrars to advise in these matters as sometimes people are not aware of certain meanings or associations around certain names.”
To be fair, this isn’t the first time it’s come up. As the registrar pointed out, it is illegal to call a child Lucifer in New Zealand.
Lad Bible said, a mother and father in the German city of Kassel last year lost a court battle to name their son Lucifer, too.
The Association for German Language (GfdS) found it to be problematic, and the parents eventually named the child Lucian instead.
