A dad won a battle against a registrar to give his baby a “banned name”, and he went on national TV to tell his story.
Dan and Mandy Sheldon were thrilled to register the birth of their baby boy following the reopening of council offices after the Covid-19 pandemic.
But their excitement was quickly met with resistance – because the name they chose was one most people associate with something a little more… infernal.
The couple told The Sun they wanted to name their son Lucifer.
Yes, that Lucifer – the same name commonly linked to the devil in Christian theology. And when they showed up at their local registrar’s office in Derbyshire to make it official, the reaction was immediate.
“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.”
Dan tried to explain their reasoning, pointing out the name’s alternative meanings. “I tried to explain that we are not religious people, and Lucifer in Greek means ‘light-bringer’ and ‘morning’ but she wouldn’t listen.”
The registrar, clearly uncomfortable with the name, even referenced naming laws abroad. “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,” Dan said.
While countries like Germany, Switzerland, and New Zealand have banned the name Lucifer due to its strong religious associations, the laws in the UK are less clear-cut.
Still, the registrar wasn’t certain whether naming a child Lucifer was even allowed, so she asked the couple to step out while she checked.
“We were gobsmacked with her behavior,” Dan recalled. After the delay, the couple was finally permitted to register the name, but not without some evident reluctance. “Eventually she did it, but it was through gritted teeth.”
As the news story went viral, Dan went onto ITV’s This Morning where he hit out at the registrar.
The registrar allegedly told Dan that his son would not “succeed in life”, and that no school or employer would want anything to do with him.
“[It’s] very hurtful,” Dan said. “We were absolutely gobsmacked. We didn’t know what to say, we didn’t know what response to give to her.”
He continued: “We explained to her that we understand the meaning of Lucifer and we thank you for your opinion, but she just carried on and wouldn’t leave it.”
After explaining that Lucifer means “the bringer of light” in other parts of history, Dan claims the registrar asked “why don’t you call your son Hitler?”
A spokesperson for Derbyshire County Council later commented on the incident, stating: “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.”
