British couple win battle to name son Lucifer after opposition from registrar

The parents thought Lucifer was a "unique" name (file photo)
PA
Imogen Braddick22 July 2020

A couple have managed to name their son Lucifer despite opposition from a registrar who tried to stop them because it is another name for the devil.

Dan and Mandy Sheldon, from Derbyshire, lodged an official complaint to the local council after the registrar told them their son "wouldn't succeed in life" if he was called Lucifer.

The couple went to register their four-month-old son last week after the council office opened after the coronavirus lockdown, The Sun reports.

But Mr Sheldon, 37, said they were "gobsmacked" by the behaviour of the registrar who reportedly told the pair to leave the room while she checked if she was allowed to register the boy with the Satanic title.

Mr Sheldon, 37, told the newspaper: "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."

The UK has few legal restrictions in place for names, but New Zealand added Lucifer to its list of banned names in 2013.

"Honestly, we just thought it was a nice name...a unique one," Mr Sheldon said. "We didn’t expect to get so much grief about it."

Derbyshire County Council told The Sun: “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.”

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