Upon reading the news that a German couple had to go to court over wanting to name their newborn son Lucifer [1], I wasn't at all shocked to learn that the country's legal system would act in this manner. The shock came a bit later, though, when I realized that in the US, we actually don't mind all that much about allowing parents to use the taboo name [2], which, in Germany at least, was vetoed because "the name could endanger the child's well-being."

Although the name actually means "light-bearing," the dictionary also cites the definition of Lucifer [3] as "a name of the Devil," which is certainly the association most people are familiar with and think of upon hearing the name. The aforementioned German couple came to terms with this and eventually backed down, choosing the name Lucian for their boy, but from 2010 to 2016, 59 sets of US parents chose the name Lucifer [4] for their sons — and were all successful. And it's not as if the name is on the decline — in 2014, 11 parents chose the name, followed by another seven in 2015, and in 2016, the prevalence nearly doubled year over year with 13 newborn babies receiving the name.

At this rate, Lucifer might make it onto the most popular names list of 2017!