Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to think this is a really, really bad idea?

202 replies

Beancounter1 · 21/10/2021 22:05

15 baby boys were given the name 'Lucifer' in 2020.
😱

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/datasets/babynamesinenglandandwalesfrom1996

OP posts:
Courtier · 22/10/2021 00:04

Who cares? To me it's just a name. I also like Lilleth.

Courtier · 22/10/2021 00:05

@Alfxn

Oh god I'm with you, op. What a terrible thing to inflict on a child.

Would any of you like to be called lucifer??

Yes I would. It sounds powerful and mysterious.
Marmite17 · 22/10/2021 00:09

Really stupid/irresponsible choice imo. Poor child! Too young to change as well.

Siepie · 22/10/2021 00:10

@TuftyMarmoset

YANBU. Some parents forget they are naming an actual person who has to live with the name for their whole life. I’m on my phone and can’t view the data properly now but there were a number of boys named Baby as well 🤦‍♀️ And as I pointed out on another thread, 3 boys named Seedy.
Isn’t Baby the ‘default’ if the parents haven’t chosen a name by the time they register the birth? Babies have to be registered within 6 weeks, but you can change their birth certificate until they’re 1 year. I know a couple of people who were originally registered as Baby, but re-registered with proper names once their parents had chosen one. Hopefully there aren’t actually any 18 year old Mr Baby Joneses out there!
PyongyangKipperbang · 22/10/2021 00:13

I wouldnt but because I have experience of teens and wouldnt want to be blamed for his nickname being "Lucy".

Marmite17 · 22/10/2021 00:17

I wouldn't want to say/hear it on a register at school or address someone by it, definitely not a child. Would feel like swearing.

Marmite17 · 22/10/2021 00:18

Best scenario a joke name amongst adult friends

immersivereader · 22/10/2021 00:22

I know a Damien. He's fine.

Goshitstricky · 22/10/2021 00:26

It be because of the TV show, it has a cult like following. it's a damn good show tbf
They'll be known as 'Lucy' I'm sure, I expect there's a few Amenadeal's as well on the list.

NoDecentHandlesLeft · 22/10/2021 00:42

YANBU.
Although if it wasn't for the association, it's an otherwise nice sounding name.

RobertaTheBuilder · 22/10/2021 00:43

@FlowerArranger

Off the top of my head, the only worse name I can think of is Judas...
Maybe Adolf could share the title?
DumplingsAndStew · 22/10/2021 00:44

My mum wouldn't even let me call our cat Lucifer (after the cat in Disney's Cinderella) She ended up being called Salem 😆

My mum did end up with a Lucy next though.

PurpleOkapi · 22/10/2021 00:48

Is this because of the Netflix series?

stilldumdedumming · 22/10/2021 07:12

I once came across a family with twins called Reggie and Ronnie. Presumably after the Krays. They had another boy called Spike which is a great name. But the poor twins. A kind of hippyish middle class family. I raised an eyebrow and did wonder what they understood the Krays to be. Kids were lovely tho.

Aderyn21 · 22/10/2021 07:15

It's lost it's negative image somewhat since Tom Ellis made Lucifer an appealing character. I wouldn't choose it but I think it's good if a name stops being associated with negativity.

Enterifyoudare · 22/10/2021 07:18

@AliceinBorderland

Lucifer was the archangel before he was cast to hell and became the devil iirc.

It is actually an archangels name.

I was about to say the same thing.

Like PP have said it's only an issue if you believe in it. Given than there are plenty of other faiths in the world with their own villain I don't see the issue.

AppleKatie · 22/10/2021 07:22

It’s not a nice thing to burden a child with.

The comparisons with Teddy are out of order though. Ted is a perfectly normal adult mans name. Lucifer is culturally very different.

DoctorSnortles · 22/10/2021 07:25

Dear me. I can picture all these baby Lucifers, tucked up in their cots.

Honestly. It’s a shit name. It’s the sort of name stupid, boorish people give to their Rottweilers. You’d have to be particularly stupid and boorish to give it to a child.

AccidentallyOnPurpose · 22/10/2021 07:48

@AppleKatie

It’s not a nice thing to burden a child with.

The comparisons with Teddy are out of order though. Ted is a perfectly normal adult mans name. Lucifer is culturally very different.

Not Ted, Teddy. Some even have an extra sweetened addition like Valentine.
AliceinBorderland · 22/10/2021 08:20

Not Ted, Teddy. Some even have an extra sweetened addition like Valentine.

Quite. Calling a boy who will grow into a man Teddy is out of order.

Not Ted, Theodore or Edward but Teddy on the birth certificate.

You are naming a child who will grow into a man, not a soft toy.

Lucifer is no different to Gabriel. Both archangels. Lucifer has negative connotations as he fell from grace and became Satan. Lucifer was the the name of an archangel.

MrsToothyBitch · 22/10/2021 09:03

@Courtier I know a baby Lilith!

AccidentallyOnPurpose · 22/10/2021 09:07

[quote MrsToothyBitch]@Courtier I know a baby Lilith![/quote]
I love the name tbh.

AliceinBorderland · 22/10/2021 09:13

Lilith is quite pretty. Not everyone knows the meaning behind it

MrsToothyBitch · 22/10/2021 11:44

I think Lilith is a very pretty name although knowing the meaning, I might take a step back from using it. We have religious friends and family though so baby Lilith and baby Lucifer would maybe cause us more problems than it's worth/it's not the hill I'm willing to die on.

For me with Lucifer, it's knowing that it is so well known in relation to the Devil and people sometimes use it to refer to the Devil. I like the idea of it as a fallen-angel name in a way, but not in a directly referencing Satan himself way, if that makes sense? Cool for a cat thoughWink.

The baby Lilith I know is gorgeous. Her parents are quite alternative so I can see why the name would be both beautiful and have cool/edge appeal for them but I certainly don't think they've used it in a negative way/chosen it to imply negative things about their baby. It's less obvious than Lucifer for a boy, too - I had to look it up when I read courtiers message, as I had no idea it had such a background. I just thought it was a pretty name.

Notjustanymum · 22/10/2021 12:12

I find it odd that Lucifer, Judas and Adolf induce such horror among PP’s, when Joseph (Josef) is still quite popular as a name.

AFAIK, Josef Stalin was responsible for 20 million deaths, mainly of civilians, in the 20th Century. It’s really strange that his name, too, hasn’t been as vilified as the others...
I suppose the slight increase in popularity noted by OP is because of the popular TV show though, rather than any reference to those ancient names, and their characters, found in the Old Testament!

Swipe left for the next trending thread