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Picking a baby name is supposed to be a happy moment. For Ronni Lily, it became a public argument about faith, fear, and TV. She and her partner Brad named their second son Lucifer. Strangers online called her cruel. A relative used an even harsher word. But Ronni says the name is bold, loved, and nothing to apologize for. Her story has spread again, and so has the question: should a name like this be allowed?
The name came from a TV show, not from faith. Ronni, a teaching assistant from Birmingham, England, welcomed baby Lucifer Ashley on Jan. 20, 2024. She and Brad had picked the name when she was 16 weeks pregnant. The idea came while she was watching the Netflix series Lucifer, a dark comedy starring Tom Ellis as Lucifer Morningstar. The couple says they are not religious. They wanted a name that felt bold and different.
The reaction was fast. Online, strangers said the name was “cruel” and “illegal.” Some warned that the boy would be bullied. The strongest reaction came from within the family. Ronni told Metro that one relative “hated it” and called it “an abomination,” and still will not use his full name. Her own father felt the opposite. He loved it straight away, she said, calling it “different and bold.” So where does the name come from?
Lucifer Is a Latin Word for ‘Light-Bringer’ That Became a Name for the Devil, and It Appears Once in the King James Bible
Lucifer began as an ordinary Latin word. It means light-bringer or morning star, from the Latin words for light and to carry. Romans used it for Venus, the bright star seen before sunrise. Ronni says critics often ignore that meaning. The word’s first meaning was not evil. Over time, though, it picked up a darker story. That is the story most people know today.
The word shows up once in the King James Bible, in Isaiah 14:12. The Hebrew there means something like shining one, son of the dawn. Around the year 400, Jerome’s Latin Bible used lucifer for it, and the King James translators kept the Latin word. The chapter is a taunt against the king of Babylon. Later Christian tradition began using Lucifer as a name for Satan. Most modern English Bibles no longer use the word.
The Bible link is real, but it is thin. Lucifer is a Latin title in some Bible translations, not a personal name in the original Hebrew. Yet in everyday life, the name is tied to the devil. Ronni knows that. She told Metro, “Of course we are aware of a certain connotation,” but added, “we are not religious.” That gap between a word’s origin and its meaning today is why some governments step in.
The Name Is Legal in the U.K., but New Zealand Banned It and Germany and Iceland Have Pushed Back
In the U.K., Ronni says, registering the name was easy. The registrar simply confirmed the spelling, she told Metro. The name is legal there. Other places are stricter. New Zealand added Lucifer to its banned list in 2013, after turning down six sets of parents who asked for it between 2001 and 2013. Parents there can ask for any name, but the government can step in if it would expose a child to mockery or offense.
Germany has stepped in too. In 2017, German officials intervened when a couple in Kassel tried to name their newborn son Lucifer. They settled on Lucian, according to the American Name Society. Iceland refused to add it to its official register. In 2020, Dan Sheldon of Derbyshire said a registrar told his family their son “would never be able to get a job.” “Eventually she did it, but it was through gritted teeth,” he said.
Registrars say they are trying to help, not to judge. Derbyshire County Council told The Sun that it is the job of its registrars to advise. New Zealand’s rules say a name cannot be offensive, look like a title or rank, be unreasonably long, or include numbers or symbols. In 2024, it rejected 71 names, led by King. In the U.S., 26 baby boys were named Lucifer in 2018, a small number. So how do parents weigh the risk?
Ronni Says Love and Confidence Matter More Than Opinions, and Her Story Shows a Name Can Change Meaning
Critics raise real worries. Some say a child named Lucifer could face teasing at school. Others, like a Derbyshire registrar in 2020, according to the parents, suggested he could struggle to find work. Some online commenters went further, saying a boy named after the devil will act like the devil. Those fears are common, but they are predictions, not facts. The reports we reviewed do not say Ronni’s son has faced any of it.
Ronni pushes back on every point. “If a kid is a bully, they will find something to pick on,” she told Metro. She says she teaches all her children positive affirmations and to be confident. She also says her son has a common middle name, Ashley, that he can use if he chooses. As for the devil comments, she called them “just stupid,” and said, “you can’t negatively label a child.”
A name is a word that changes meaning as people use it. Lucifer began as a Latin word for a star, became a name for the devil, and then a charming hero on a TV screen. Ronni says positive comments outweigh the negative ones, and that midwives urged them to keep the name. Whatever the debate decides, the final meaning will belong to the boy. A name starts as his parents’ choice. In time, it becomes his own.