Couple win battle to name son Lucifer after shock registrar reaction

23 July 2020, 16:09 | Updated: 16 May 2023, 14:10

The couple wanted to name their son Lucifer as they thought it was 'nice and unique'. Picture: Getty

By Alice Dear

A registrar attempted to bar a couple from naming their newborn son Lucifer due to the satanic association.

A couple have succeeded in naming their son a controversial name, Lucifer, after the registrar tried to bar it.

Dan and Mandy Sheldon said the woman was in "utter disgust" when they went to register the newborn baby's name in Chesterfield, UK.

The couple said that they didn't expect to get "so much grief" about it, and that they liked the name as it is "nice and unique".

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The couple claimed the registrar told them their son – who was four-months-old at the time – "wouldn't succeed in life" with the name Lucifer.

The couple said they were shocked by the response. Picture: Getty

Dan Sheldon 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."

He added that they tried to explain to her that they are not religious, and that in Greek, the name means ‘light-bringer’ and ‘morning’.

Dan claims the woman told them it was illegal to name a child Lucifer in New Zealand, and suggested they could use the name at home but register him as a different name.

The moniker is in fact forbidden in New Zealand, and has been since 2013.

He continued to explain: "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.”

Derbyshire County Council have since released a statement, commenting: "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.”