A Star Wars-loving UK family’s holiday hit a snag when their son was denied a passport as officials ruled that his peculiar name was too out of this world.
British soldier Christian Mowbray’s son was born on May 4, 2017, informally known as Star Wars Day ("May The Fourth Be With You", get it??), so he and his wife, Becky, named him after one of the most famous families in sci-fi cinema history.
Thus, Loki Skywalker Mowbray came to be, and for the first seven years of his life, there was no huge problem with the name. That is, until the family of five planned to go on an overseas holiday.
According to Sky News, the Home Office, in charge of the nation’s immigration, denied the youngster’s passport, claiming it couldn’t print “Skywalker” because of Disney’s copyright on the name.
The family had no knowledge of having this issue but the Home Office told the family it either had to change their son’s name or get permission from Disney to use “Skywalker.”
“We were not aware that this could be a potential issue,” Mowbray said. “We understand that Loki’s middle name is copyrighted (as in The Avengers), but we have no intention of using it for personal gain.”
“I understand their (the Home Office’s) position and reasoning, but I believe they need to recognise that modern names are evolving.”
However this story has a happy ending as Mowbray says his son was eventually issued the passport and the family’s vacation went ahead.
A similar situation arose for another UK family because they named their daughter after a Game of Thrones character, Khaleesi but that story’s for another day…