A couple won a battle to give their child a name that was "banned" in the UK - but now their son has to live with a pretty wild name for the rest of his life.
Having a baby is a huge occasion, but nobody can truly prepare you for the level of responsibility that comes with being a new parent.
For starters, not only do you have to worry about keeping yourself alive, but now there is this entirely new human being who needs you to do the same for them too.
One of the first big decisions that needs to be made after a baby is born, is what to call them - which is a huge task because this person will likely have this name for life unless they opt to change it.
A couple in the UK seemed very certain about what to call their son when he was born, but they were soon met with resistance from the registrar.
Dan and Mandy Sheldon sat down with The Sun where they revealed that following the reopening of council offices after the Covid-19 pandemic, they went to register their then four-month-old son.
"We were really excited to go and get him registered but the woman looked at us in utter disgust," Dan said. "She told us he would never be able to get a job, and that teachers wouldn’t want to teach him."
But what was the name that caused all this controversy? Well, the parents wanted to name their son Lucifer - a name that is often attributed to the devil.
"I tried to explain that we are not religious people, and Lucifer in Greek means ‘light-bringer’ and ‘morning’ but she wouldn’t listen," Dan continued.
"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."
In the Christian faith, Lucifer is the name that was given to the devil when he was an angel before he fell from heaven and ended up in hell.
The name is banned in many countries across the world that are predominantly Christian, including Germany and Switzerland.
The registrar seemed unclear as to whether the UK had similar laws, so the couple was asked to leave the room while she checked.
See more baby names that have been banned below:"We were gobsmacked with her behavior," Dan said, before revealing that they got their way in the end. "Eventually she did it, but it was through gritted teeth." He went on: "Honestly, we just thought it was a nice name... a unique one. We didn’t expect to get so much grief about it." The dictionary states that alongside the evil connotations, Lucifer can also mean "morning star" and "bearer of light", which actually sounds quite nice.
As cited by The Sun, Derbyshire County Council said: "We apologize 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."
Let's hope little Lucifer is enjoying his name a couple of years on!
