Couple Forbids Naming Their Baby Hades; the name of the Greek god of the dead and king of the underworld

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.

According to Mail Online, the parents say they innocently decided to name their child the same name as the Greek god of the underworld, the unseen and commander of the realm of the dead.

And so Hades Velasquez Desgres was welcomed into the world, a name they thought sounded “pretty”. But after filing the required paperwork, the public prosecutor in Saint-Malo told them the name had been refused.

“We chose this name simply because we thought it was pretty.

“Hades Velasquez Desgres sounds good,” Ms Desgres told local newspaper Le Pays Malouin.

She added that no one had linked her baby’s name to the Greek god of the dead: “It didn’t shock anyone. On the contrary, people like it.

French authorities can veto a name if it is not in the best interests 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 a god of the underworld who keeps the dead from leaving was inappropriate for a child.

The parents said they didn’t understand the decision because they hadn’t given their son a name like Lucifer or Satan.

The couple have hired a lawyer in their fight to keep their baby’s name and have already identified other parents who had named their child Hades – 12 in 2020 – whose choice of first name was accepted without issue.

Ms. Desgres and Mr. Velasquez even contacted the parents of the other children named Hades to prove that their babies weren’t bullied because of their unusual first names.

The court decision on the case is expected on April 4.