A mother has revealed that her six-year-old daughter was allegedly denied a passport due to her Game Of Thrones-inspired name.
Naming a child can be one of the hardest decisions to make, as a parent tries to capture their newborn's personality with the perfect name to carry them through life.
There can be many sources of inspiration, from names passed down through the generations or tributes to beloved family members, or even those chosen from beloved pop culture characters.
One mom was, however, left "devastated" after discovering that her daughter's Game Of Thrones-inspired name meant her passport application was turned down.
Lucy, 39, who is from Swindon, England, told the BBC that she'd applied for a passport for her daughter, Khaleesi, but was turned down because she needed Warner Brothers' approval as they own the trademark for the name.
She told the BBC: "I was absolutely devastated, we were so looking forward to our first holiday together,” Lucy said.
The family had been planning a "dream" trip to Disneyland Paris when they got the news that the application had been turned down.
"I had a letter come through from the Passport Office, saying her name is trademarked by Warner Brothers," she said. "It was the first I’ve heard of such a thing — I was astonished."
After reaching out for legal advice, Lucy's solicitors found that while there is a trademark for Game of Thrones for goods and services, it is not relevant for a person's name.
Lucy added: "That information was sent to the Passport Office who said I would need a letter from Warner Brothers to confirm my daughter is able to use that name."
She revealed that she was left "frustrated" by the response, explaining: "If she could get a birth certificate, would something not have been flagged up then?
"I never thought you could trademark a name."
The Passport Office later called Lucy to apologize and said that a "mistake" had been made in her case, and that the guidance staff had originally given would only apply to people changing their names.
She believes that her case was only resolved due to the media attention around it, but added: "He advised me that they should be able to process my daughter's passport now.
"If I hadn't posted this on social media, nothing would have been done. I would have been stuck, not knowing what to do. People contacted me about similar experiences."
Lucy is now waiting until Khaleesi's passport arrives before booking another trip to Disneyland for the family.
"I am hoping the passport will be issued soon, and was promised that they would call back in a few days to see if it had progressed."
"I think there might be other people in this situation, that they may have had their passports declined recently because of something like this. Hopefully, they now know it can be resolved."
A spokesperson for the Home Office said: "We can confirm the application is being processed and apologize to the family for the delay."
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