Poll: Can't call a kid Lucifer in New Zealand

[WolfThomas]

So apparently in New Zealnd they're cracking down on crazy names for babies.

The Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages seems to be trying to curb a lifetime of inevitable taunting for the children of parents who wanted to rather than give them names, give them punctuation symbols like:

. (Full Stop), * (Asterisk) and / (presumably "Slash")

In the past two years there have been 102 rejected names, including Baron, Bishop, Duke, General, Judge, Justice, King, Knight and Mr, all deemed too similar to titles. Messiah also got the thumbs down. The number 89, and the letters, C, D, I and T saw the same fate

All of that kind of makes sense. But apparently "Lucifer" is also banned. Which I find odd. It's a "real" name and an old name, got a good meaning "Light-bringer", "Morning-star" and can be shorted to "Luc". It's also a name for Venus.

Certainly I wouldn't call my kid it, but New Zealand is a secular nation right? So religion shouldn't play any part in this. It's largely different from say calling your kid "Adolf Hitler" whose deeds are real and horrific, as (not trying to start a religious debate but) to many in the world it would be basically a fictional name. Even to me and I'm a christian, but lucifer and the concept of the devil are very minimal in the bible itself.

As for being mocked? How is it worse than Francis or Reginald? No offense meant to the Franks and Reggies in the house. But I knew guys with those names who got mocked constantly. Now Lucifer Jones, that's a badass name, it says the kid rides bikes without a helmet and plays by nobody's rules.

Honestly if it comes to the choice between Lucifer and J'Dynne (Jaden), I want to ban the later (yeah I know Reductio ad absurdum).

What do you guys think? Should it be banned? Should any names be banned?

Source:
http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/120757/new-zealand-bans-naming-children-lucifer/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/22/lucifer-banned-baby-name-new-zealand_n_906171.html

 

[Dango]

What kind of parent would want to name their son (or daughter?) Lucifer in the first place?

 

[Aris Khandr]

What kind of parent would want to name their son (or daughter?) Lucifer in the first place?

Troll Dad, naturally.

 

[FalloutJack]

Thanks to the poll, I'm of the opinion that he should be named Batman.

 

[WolfThomas]

What kind of parent would want to name their son (or daughter?) Lucifer in the first place?

Probably crappy parents.
Or fans of the Sandman spin-off Comicbook series written by Mike Carey.
Or the rare Satanist (which I guess is only fair I mean Muslims get Mohammed and Christians all the saints)

Thanks to the poll, I'm of the opinion that he should be named Batman.

As a rule Batman is always a good third option.

 

[somonels]

And why not? I think it's a nice name, unlike J'Dynne which... no, just no.
There are always these hipster parents who deliberately name their kids in retarded ways...

 

[TonyVonTonyus]

What kind of parent would want to name their son (or daughter?) Lucifer in the first place?

Oh...well...*cough, cough*...definately not me, ha ha ha.

Seriously, Lucifer is actually a pretty cool name. I mean yeah, it's the name of Satan and all but only if you're Christian and more importantly, only if you care.

 

[Pat8u]

Lucifers an awesome name so yea they should be able to

 

[Fbuh]

What kind of parent would want to name their son (or daughter?) Lucifer in the first place?

Perhaps someone who did some research and learned that Lucifer was actually the name of a god to the peoples of pre-Rome Italy.

 

[WolfThomas]

Also I have a theory that any cool name plus the surname Jones is awesome. Examples Indiana Jones, Phoenix Jones (the chicago Seattle super hero), Desolation Jones and Batman Jones (comic characters). Lucifer Jones would be awesome.

Seriously, Lucifer is actually a pretty cool name. I mean yeah, it's the name of Satan and all but only if you're Christian and more importantly, only if you care.

The thing is it's used only twice in the bible and the connection to Satan is very loose, it's only much later where writers like Dante and Milton popularized it. Some liturgys actually refer to the Virgin Mary and Jesus Chriist as the "Star of the morning". Which is Lucifer in latin.

Even the use of the Satan varies a lot. Add to that varying interpretations on whether "The Devil", Satan and Lucifer are just synoynms or 2-3 different figures.

It also can be used as a name for the planet Venus.

 

[Harlief]

Now Lucifer Jones, that's a badass name, it says the kid rides bikes without a helmet and plays by nobody's rules.

Which is against the law in NZ... OMG you'll be setting them up for a life of crime!

But in all seriousness, NZ being secular does not mean we are devoid of religious nutters. Calling your kid Lucifer is an almost guaranteed way to bring out the "burn the witch" mentality in the nutters of our nation.
If a parent really likes the name I don't see why they can't just call their kid Luke or Lucy and use Lucifer as their nick-name... I once flatted with a girl for whom this was the case.

 

[TonyVonTonyus]

Also I have a theory that any cool name plus the surname Jones is awesome. Examples Indiana Jones, Phoenix Jones (the chicago super hero), Desolation Jones and Batman Jones (comic characters). Lucifer Jones would be awesome.

Seriously, Lucifer is actually a pretty cool name. I mean yeah, it's the name of Satan and all but only if you're Christian and more importantly, only if you care.

The thing is it's used only twice in the bible and the connection to Satan is very loose, it's only much later where writers like Dante and Milton popularized it. Some liturgys actually refer to the Virgin Mary and Jesus Chriist as the "Star of the morning". Which is Lucifer in latin.

Even the use of the Satan varies a lot. Add to that varying interpretations on whether "The Devil", Satan and Lucifer are just synoynms or 2-3 different figures.

It also can be used as a name for the planet Venus.

Which proves the point of "what the helll is the problem?"

 

[Biosophilogical]

That's crazy talk! Lucifer is a bad-arse name. I mean, it may carry some weirdness, but probably the same as calling a kid Dante, or Mohammed, or any number of names with religious leanings.

 

[Nuuu]

Yes, Lucifer is just a name, i don't see anything wrong with it, i also don't see anything wrong with naming someone Adolf either (as long as you live in Germany, anywhere else and you're just intentionally naming your child off of him), so what, a guy named Adolf did very terrible things, your last name isn't Hitler, and you're not him, to me, it's just a name.

Also, i accidently voted "No" misreading the poll as "Should the name Lucifer be banned"

 

[WolfThomas]

Which proves the point of "what the helll is the problem?"

Exactly.

Now Lucifer Jones, that's a badass name, it says the kid rides bikes without a helmet and plays by nobody's rules.

Which is against the law in NZ... OMG you'll be setting them up for a life of crime!

What better a name for an infamous crime boss? Yeah it's the same in Australia, that's why I suggested it.

And why not? I think it's a nice name, unlike J'Dynne which... no, just no.
There are always these hipster parents who deliberately name their kids in retarded ways...

I don't know if it's made up or not, but Le-ah, not prounounced "Lee-ah" but "Le-Dash-ah". That's one of the worst I've heard.

 

[Loop Stricken]

What kind of parent would want to name their son (or daughter?) Lucifer in the first place?

I would. It's a great name. And we can't use it because one bad apple of a fictional character got a bit uppity?

Pfft.

 

[WolfThomas]

What kind of parent would want to name their son (or daughter?) Lucifer in the first place?

I would. It's a great name. And we can't use it because one bad apple of a fictional character got a bit uppity?

Pfft.

Actually I think they'd probably not let you call your kid Voldemort in New Zealand either.

 

[Loop Stricken]

What kind of parent would want to name their son (or daughter?) Lucifer in the first place?

I would. It's a great name. And we can't use it because one bad apple of a fictional character got a bit uppity?

Pfft.

Actually I think they'd probably not let you call your kid Voldemort in New Zealand either.

...

I see what you did there. Don't think I didn't!
[sub]Marvolo is a nice middle name though...[/sub]

 

[Kaymish]

yes people should be able to give their child any name within reason and the guidelines set forth in your post are neither excessive nor lax

however we still have metric crap tons of religious nut cases here in NZ and they will always seek to bring us down and destroy anything that is not as insane as they just look at bishop Brian Tamaki's destiny church cult going for political office openly

it is people like that who will prevent Lucifer from being a viable name

and that's why we cant have the nice toys religion is to blame for much of the evil in the world today

 

[Superior Mind]

I'm a New Zealander and am all for keeping stupid parents naming their kids stupid things. There have been some terrible ones here. Thing is while there should be a line I don't think the line should be drawn at 'Lucifer'. Lucifier is actually a really nice name. Means 'light bringer'. I mean it has the connotation to the Devil giving it a similar tarnish to the name 'Adolf' but really - I mean it's religion, it's not like its a historical event that actually happened.

Let the parents call the kid Lucifer. Worst thing that'll happen will be kids at his school calling him 'Lucy'.