A gran has gone to court to legally change her grandson’s name from Lucifer after his dad killed his mum in an axe attack and was later found dead himself.

Little Lucifer’s unnamed nan went to court in the municipality of Nova Olinda in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Ceara to change her grandson’s unorthodox name.

The name change petition was filed via the Nova Olinda Prosecutor’s Office back in June 2021, though local media have only just reported on the case.

Lucifer, born in March 2021, is the last known person in Brazil to have been given this name, which, in Christian tradition, is associated with the Devil. Brazil is the country with the second-largest number of Christians in the world, after the USA.

The 10-month-old tot is in his maternal grandma’s care after his dad killed his mum and his maternal granddad in an axe attack in the family home in a rural area of the municipality on 27th May 2021. Lucifer was just two months old at the time.

The dad was found dead months later.

Lucifer is a boy’s name of Latin origin meaning ‘light bearer’. It is the name of the archangel cast into Hell, with theologians disagreeing on whether he and Satan are separate beings. The name is banned in New Zealand.

The Nova Olinda Child Services say their counsellors have been accompanying the youngster and his brothers since the day of the crime, which shocked local residents.

According to official data, two others in Brazil, both from the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, were named Lucifer in the period 2016 to 2021.

Little Lucifer’s new name has not been reported so as to protect his privacy.