A Nigerian woman living in Denmark has expressed frustration after claiming that authorities have delayed the approval of her newborn son’s name for nearly three months over concerns surrounding his Igbo name, Ebuka.
The woman shared her experience in a video circulating on social media, explaining that she and her family proposed the names William Ebuka for their son.
According to her, the authorities approved William, the child’s first name, but raised concerns about Ebuka, which she identified as a common Nigerian name of Igbo origin.
‘They said they can’t approve the name’
The woman claimed that Danish authorities informed the family that Ebuka could not be approved after they reportedly checked whether the name met the relevant requirements.
She said the family responded by explaining that Ebuka is widely used among Nigerians, particularly the Igbo people, and is a shortened form of Chukwuebuka.
“They wrote back to us and said that they can’t approve such name, that they have checked that they can’t approve it,” she said.
“So we wrote back to them telling them that the name is a very common name in Nigeria, precisely Igbo tribe, that is a short form for Chukwuebuka.”
Family asked to provide evidence of the name
According to the mother, the authorities subsequently requested documentation showing that the name had been used by members of the family in previous generations.
She said the family explained that they could not provide such records because names commonly used in Nigeria are not necessarily documented in the manner being requested.
“They wrote back to us again telling us to bring a documentation that shows that the name is being answered, like maybe that our forefathers answered the name,” she said.
“We wrote back to them again telling them that there is no such documentation in Nigeria because things like that are not documented. That is a very common name.”
Nigerian embassy contacted
The woman further claimed that the Danish authorities advised the family to contact the Nigerian embassy in Sweden regarding the matter.
She said they subsequently reached out to the embassy but believed there was a misunderstanding over the information required.
According to her, the embassy requested the child’s birth certificate bearing the proposed name, whereas she understood the Danish authorities to be seeking information or verification concerning the origin and use of the name.
The situation, she said, has become increasingly frustrating because her son is reportedly still recorded as having an “unknown name” during hospital visits and appointments.
‘My son will be three months soon’
Expressing concern over the prolonged process, the mother said her son would soon be three months old without the proposed name being formally approved.
“Whenever I visit the hospital or whenever I have an appointment, what you will see there is ‘unknown name’, which means unknown name, then the next thing that will follow will be our son’s name,” she said.
She added:
“And it’s really frustrating. Imagine a child that will be three months very soon that is yet to approve his name.”
The mother’s account has generated discussion online about the challenges some immigrant families may face when registering names in foreign countries, particularly where names from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds are subject to local naming requirements.
The specific reason for the delay and the Danish authorities’ formal position on the name could not be independently verified from the information provided.