Danish officials have refused a request by a 26-year-old toyshop owner to change his name to Super Hero. He’s a victim of a national law that restricts the legal names that can be given to babies or adopted by adults.

Denmark has a “Law on Personal Names” which officials say is needed to protect children from mockery over something that’s out of their control, though the law also applies to adults. (The law only applies where at least one parent is Danish.)

Originally parents could only pick from a list of 7,000 pre-approved names. Since 2006, changes to the law mean parents or the person themselves can apply to use a name not on the list, but this must be reviewed by a government department.

That’s what happened to comic book fan Benjamin Preisler Herbst, who wanted to take on the name “Super Hero” in line with his shop. His plan was to adopt it as a new first name, making his full legal moniker Super Hero Benjamin Preisler Herbst.

After a four month review, he received a letter from officials that (via Google Translate) read:

The word superhero is the name of a fictional / non-existent figure who perform heroic deeds. We do not believe that Super hero meets the criteria for accreditation as a Christian name.

Benjamin believes the name would cause no offense and instead would brighten up the lives of those he encountered. He told the BBC that he agrees with the principle of protecting children from inappropriate names, but says the law should not apply to adults. He will soon become a father to twins himself but doesn’t plan on giving them exotic names.

He has now launched an online petition calling on officials to review their case. In particular, he objects to the idea that a super hero is inherently fictional and non-existent, writing (again via Google Translate):

But a superhero is not a fictional character, a superhero is what you make of it. For me, there are many alternative superheroes in the world, doctors are superheroes, mothers and fathers around the world are superheroes, Gandi is superhero, there are so many different ways to describe superheroes. Superheroes deeds is also something people decide what is, for many it is to help an old lady across the street, for some it is to stop a thief, so we can agree that the word itself superhero is widely consulted in Denmark today?