A Satanist couple whose decision to name their first-born son Lucifer sent shockwaves through Russia last fall has announced plans to give their second-born a similarly controversial name, in a bid to “create a small army of darkness,” young father Konstantin Menshikov announced via social network VKontakte.
Menshikov and his wife Natalya Menshikova are expecting a new son in October and plan to call him Lestat — a name popularized by American author Anne Rice who called the blood-lusting antihero of several novels in the popular "Vampire Chronicles" series Lestat de Lioncourt.
“We are creating a small army of darkness. … We already have our prince and our gray cardinal,” Menshikov announced, referring presumably to Lucifer and Lestat respectively.
Among the favorable qualities associated with the name Lestat, Menshikov said, are occultism, charm and a love of solitude. Among the less favorable, in Menshikov's opinion, are foolishness and excessive positivity.
Menshikov and his wife shot to infamy in heavily Orthodox Christian Russia after naming their first son — born last September — Lucifer.
Registry officials attempted to dissuade the couple as they applied for their first-born son's birth certificate, TASS reported in October, but the parents remained resolute.
Menshikova, who described herself and her husband as satanists, said at the time the name was a tribute to the boy's survival after a complicated birth.
"During pregnancy, I did not lead the healthiest lifestyle, so childbirth was difficult," she was quoted by TASS as saying. "I promised that I would name the baby Lucifer if he survived, because he was born with major asphyxia."