Danish authorities have destroyed the boyhood dream of a modest toy shop owner, rejecting his request to change his name to "Superhero."
"The word superhero is a term for a fictional/non-existent figure who performs heroic acts. We don't believe that Superhero lives up to the criteria for being approved as a boy's name," the authorities explained, telling the man he would never be called Superhelten Benjamin Preisler Herbst (Superhero Benjamin Preisler Herbst).
Predictably, Benjamin Preisler Herbst felt badly let down when he received the official response after a tense four-month wait. It seems that the toy shop owner, 26, cannot imagine his life without superhero companions, as his apartment is full of comic-book model characters and their equipment.
Danish man not allowed to change his name to 'Superhero' http://t.co/4yK81Hqw7t pic.twitter.com/XO5bbRNdgK Via @BBCMonitoring
— Emilie (@paintsandsings) January 29, 2015
"I've always had lots of crazy ideas and because I practically live and breathe for superheroes, I got the idea and thought that it could be possible," Herbst told Jyllands-Posten newspaper, as quoted by the Copenhagen Post.
"I fully understand that people under 18 should be protected from being given silly names by their parents. But I think it should be up to adults to change their own name to whatever they want," the man insisted.
Curiously enough, Danish authorities have earlier approved such odd and exotic names as Awesome, Ninja, Faktor, Dreng (boy), Brormand (brotherman), Cuba, Kobra, Mix and Blær (boast), the media outlet points out.
"I heard of a dude who had changed his name to Ninja so I thought that if you can be named Ninja, then you can be named Superhero too," Herbst underscored.
Indeed, the number of strange names has grown tremendously in Denmark over the recent years, since Danish law regarding names was liberalized in 2006, allowing parents to give their children "more unique names."
Meanwhile, the Danish toy shop owner has not given up and decided to keep on fighting for his childhood dream by announcing he would appeal against the authorities' decision.
"There is nobody who doesn't like superheroes. The only ones who don't are super villains," he said.
