Couple win battle to give son controversial name that was ‘banned’

A couple won a battle to name their baby son a controversial name after a registrar tried to stop them from doing so.

Their bold choice was initially rejected but the parents fought hard to have their wish.

Dan and Mandy Sheldon, from Derbyshire, were allegedly told their son would ‘not succeed in life’ if he was given the controversial name.

So what was the name deemed so terrible they almost had it declined? Well, the name in question is…Lucifer. Yep. That’s right!

Parents Dan and Mandy — who are not religious — decided to call their son Lucifer because they ‘wanted a nice strong name’ to give him after they had been ‘struggling’ to come up with one.

In Christianity, Lucifer is one of a number of names that’s given to the Devil, meaning for some the name may carry undesirable and hellish connotations.

On ITV’s This morning in July 2020, speaking to Rochelle Humes and Ore Oduba, Lucifer’s father Dan appeared with the four-month-old. He explained that the registrar warned them the child would ‘never succeed in life, no teacher would want to teach him and no employer would want to hire him’.

He also said those against their name choice suggested it is in line with trying to call a baby ‘Hitler’.

Dan told the hosts: “It should have been a joyous day and it was very hurtful. We didn’t know what to say, we didn’t know what response to give to her.”

However, despite the opposition from the registrar, the couple managed to give their son their chosen name and have Lucifer approved, after they launched an official complaint with their local council.

Although the UK does not have laws banning specific names, the registrar can reject those with obscenities, numerals, misleading titles or those which are impossible to pronounce. This is to prevent the child from harm.

However, ‘Lucifer’ is a banned name in countries like New Zealand — which added the name to its list of prohibited monikers in 2013 along with the names ‘Christ’ and royal-themed names like ‘King’, ‘Prince’ and ‘Princess’.

Iceland only accepts names from a pre-agreed list — which is issued by the government. Denmark also has a specific register.

The new parents got their way after the registrar learned that it is not illegal to give a child that name and so little Lucifer now has his parents’ chosen name for him.

Derbyshire County Council released a statement that 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.”