Parents Christian Mowbray and his wife Becky were denied a passport for their son Loki Skywalker owing to his middle name, and were told to get permission from Disney
A family was denied a passport for their young son named after characters from Star Wars – because of copyright concerns.
Christian Mowbray and his wife Becky had booked a holiday to the Dominican Republic next month. The trip was to be their first in more than a decade owing to both of their work schedules as serving soldiers in the army.
However, their trip is now in doubt because of concerns over their son Loki’s middle name – Skywalker. Now they have been told they must either change it or get permission from Disney which holds the rights to the Star Wars franchise.
Christian told Suffolk News: “We were not aware this could be a potential issue, we understand Loki’s middle name is copyrighted, but we have no intention of using it for personal gain.
“I understand their [the Home Office] position and reasoning, but I believe they need to recognize modern names are evolving. I can understand if an adult changes their name for a ‘stunt’, but this is not the case for a child from birth.”
The family chose the unusual moniker after their son’s birth on May 4 – celebrated around the world as Star Wars Day. The email from the Home Office warned Loki’s application contained a name “which relates to a trademark or copyright. As a result it would not issue a passport”.
Last year a mum and dad shared they also wanted to name their child after Anakin Skywalker – who later became Darth Vader. They revealed they were concerned their child might be bullied as a result.
Writing on a baby name forum, the couple shared: “My husband and I have a rather unique pop-culture name that we’d like to use for our future son, but every time we tell people about it the first thing they say is “Omg, no he’s gonna get bullied for that! So you hate your child that much?” And like… I feel like that’s a little dramatic, they just don’t like the name.
“When I was little, I went to school with a boy named Madison and I didn’t blink an eye because I didn’t know that was traditionally a girl’s name yet. It’s not kids that are going to do the teasing, it’s adults which I think is worse. Sure middle school might bring some harassment to a girl named Barbie, but I feel like middle school sucks for everyone.”
