You can't just name your child whatever you like in
Germany. Godsgift is OK; devilish monikers are not. Elsewhere in the
world, the rules for name approval are even stricter. In one country,
Harriet is a no-go.
What the hell? That's probably what a civic registry office employee thought when he saw the request made by a couple from the central German city of Kassel. The parents wanted to register their newborn son as Lucifer.
The registrar refused to put the rather unusual name into the baby's birth certificate, and the parents refused to choose a different one. The case ended up in court, where, eventually, Mom and Dad were convinced to not saddle their son with a name that many people across the world associate with pure evil. The baby boy is now named Lucian.
The Latin word "lucifer" means "morning star" or, as an adjective, "light-bringing." But today the name is a synonym for the devil. In Christian tradition, Lucifer was used as the proper name of the devil before his fall from grace. In popular culture, Lucifer is synonymous with the devil or Satan.
What the hell? That's probably what a civic registry office employee thought when he saw the request made by a couple from the central German city of Kassel. The parents wanted to register their newborn son as Lucifer.
The registrar refused to put the rather unusual name into the baby's birth certificate, and the parents refused to choose a different one. The case ended up in court, where, eventually, Mom and Dad were convinced to not saddle their son with a name that many people across the world associate with pure evil. The baby boy is now named Lucian.
The Latin word "lucifer" means "morning star" or, as an adjective, "light-bringing." But today the name is a synonym for the devil. In Christian tradition, Lucifer was used as the proper name of the devil before his fall from grace. In popular culture, Lucifer is synonymous with the devil or Satan.
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