Choosing a pet's name isn't always as easy as it sounds because there's so many options out there. While some owners opt for names with a personal meaning behind them, others seek inspiration from their favourite books, television shows and movies.
But one pet owner has come under fire with her neighbours after naming her cat after a character in an urban fantasy television series. She explained how she named her two-year-old cat Lucifer after getting hooked on the show which stars Tom Ellis as Lucifer. The woman said: "I have recently moved in to an apartment with my boyfriend and my two-year-old black cat, Lucifer. Despite naming him Lucifer we also call him Lucy and Lulu.
"Some of the friendly neighbours visited our place with gifts as a welcome gesture and it did not take long for us to know that one seven-year-old [in the neighbourhood] is also named Lucy."
After hearing about them moving into the area, the seven-year-old's mum, who was yet to introduce herself to the couple, marched round to their house to order them to change their pet's name.
"The mother, who did not visit our place before and probably heard from the other neighbours, has been knocking our door asking us to change the name of our cat," she added on Reddit.
"[She wants us to change it] because they are Christians, and linking my cat name Lucifer, which we also nickname Lucy to their daughter Lucy is offensive."
Shocked by her request, the woman quickly shot her down saying she would not be changing her cat's name for those reasons.
However, her neighbour became so upset by this that even the woman's boyfriend started considering changing the animal's name.
She added: "The neighbour is getting rather upset over this and even my boyfriend said that changing Lucifer's name is not a big deal, we could even lie to her that we have already changed his name.
"I said, 'No, why should I change my cat's name or lie about him changing names when it is really none of her business? I don't want to give in to her over such silly reasons'."
While most users agreed she shouldn't change her pet's name to appease her new neighbour, others shared their shock over the mum ordering a name change in the first place.
One user said: "You would be entirely correct that it's none of your neighbour's business what your cats name is.
"You don't need to change your cats name for someone who will basically never interact with the cat."
Another user added: "Tell them to change their kid's name."
A third user said: "I want to point out that there's an actual kitty Disney character named Lucifer - the black cat in Cinderella.
"If the name works for a Disney cartoon, this mum needs to get over herself."
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