French authorities forbid a couple from calling their baby Hades, the name of the Greek god of the dead and king of the underworld.
- Kristina Desgres and Rodrigo Velásquez welcomed their son last September
- They called him Hades Velásquez Desgres, which they thought was ‘pretty’
A couple in France have been banned from naming their newborn baby Hades, the same name as the ancient Greek god of the dead and king of the underworld.
Kristina Desgres and Rodrigo Velasquez from the French port city of Saint-Malo, Brittany, welcomed their son last September.
Sweet and innocent, the parents decided to give their son the same name as the Greek god of the underworld, the invisible and commander of the kingdom of the dead.
And that is how Hades Velasquez Desgres was received in the world, a name that they thought was ‘pretty’.
But after presenting the required documentation, the Saint-Malo prosecutor told them the name had been denied.
Kristina Desgres and Rodrigo Velasquez from the French port city of Saint-Malo, Brittany, welcomed their son last September. Sweet and innocent, the parents decided to give her son the same name as the Greek god of the underworld, the invisible and commander of the kingdom of the dead (in the photo: a representation of Hades in the underworld)
“We chose this name simply because we thought it was pretty.
“Hades Velasquez Desgres sounds good,” Ms. Desgres told the local newspaper Le Pays Malouin.
She added that no one made the connection between her baby’s name and the Greek god of the dead: “It didn’t surprise anyone.” On the contrary, people like it.
Like many other Western countries, the authorities in France can veto a name if it is not in the interest of the child and require parents to change their baby’s name.
In the case of Hades, the prosecutor decided that the name’s negative connotation as the god of the underworld who prevents the dead from leaving was inappropriate for a child.
The parents said they did not understand the decision as they had not given their son a name like Lucifer or Satan.
The couple hired a lawyer in their fight to keep their baby’s name and have already identified other parents who had named their son Hades -12 in 2020- whose choice of name was accepted without problem.
Ms. Desgres and Mr. Velasquez even contacted the parents of the other children named Hades to prove that their babies were not bullied because of their unusual name.
A court decision on the case is expected on April 4.
