German parents head to court over their son Lucifer, refuse to choose another name

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.



A German civic registry office employee was surprised to see 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.

Not just Germany. Below are some baby names banned in different countries and keep in mind that people actually named their kids with these names.

1. NUTELLA - France

2. AKUMA (DEVIL) - Japan

3. ANAL - New Zealand

4. GESHER (BRIDGE) - Norway

5. TALULA DOES THE HULA FROM HAWAII - New Zealand

6. OSAMA BIN LADEN - Germany

7. ROBOCOP - Mexico

8. CHIEF MAXIMUS - New Zealand

9.BRFXXCCXXMNPCCCCLLLMMNPRXVCLMNCKSSQLBB11116 - Sweden

10. @ - China

11. CIRCUMCISION - Mexico

12. HARRIET - Iceland

13. METALLICA - Sweden

14. CHOW TOW (SMELLY HEAD) - Malaysia

15. LINDA - Saudi Arabia

16. SEX FRUIT - New Zealand

17. MONKEY - Denmark

18. VENERDI (FRIDAY) - Italy

19. NIRVANA - Portugal

20. FRAISE (STRAWBERRY) - France

21. "." (FULL STOP) - New Zealand

22. SARAH - Morocco