BBC News Online: UK

I name this child

Whatever David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Bob Geldof and Keith Richards' reasons were, today there is a new recruit to the ranks of celebrities' strangely-named children. Lennon Gallagher.

The firstborn offspring of Oasis's Liam Gallagher and his wife Patsy Kensit is, of course, named in tribute to John Lennon.

And actually, bearing in mind some of the names pop stars have chosen in the past, he has got off pretty lightly.

Zowie and Dweezil, the children respectively of David Bowie and Frank Zappa, are perhaps the most celebrated examples.

Although Dweezil's sibling Moon Unit, Fifi Trixibelle's half-sister Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily, Rolan Bolan and even Brooklyn Beckham run them close.

And that's without mentioning Lourdes Ciccone, Chastity Bono, River Phoenix or Sage Stallone.

And U2's Bono nearly trumped everyone by calling his son Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q Hewson last week.

Pop commentator Rick Sky said he quite likes the name Lennon ("It's better than Ringo Gallager"), but has his own views about why popstars choose unusual names.

"I think they do it because they think they are special people, they want to wear special clothes and special sunglasses, go to special parties and special hotels.

"So when they have a baby, they want it to be special, and they can't afford to give their child a run-of-the-mill name."

As well as making their child a useful fashion accessory, he said they did it to help mark out their offspring in case they should want a showbusiness career themselves.

While most of the rest of the country is satisfied with conventional names (Jack and Chloe are the current favourites), there is a wider trend for choosing the unusual.

The most recent edition of the Oxford Concise Dictionary of First Names included a whole raft of neo-names.

They included Bijou, Gobnat, Beige, Raven, Ace, Baron, Jazz, Stone, Asia, Gypsy, Karma and Zenith.

Elsewhere the trend is repeated, although different countries have different ways of dealing with it. In Peru there was a row when the Government tried to crack down on names such as H2O.

And in France, a couple who wanted to call their son Zebulon - the equivalent of Zebedee - were told they faced court if the name could expose the child to mockery.

Whether Lennon Gallagher does follow in his father's footsteps, Rick Sky believes something awaits him which his parents will not have counted on.

"I'm sure at school he'll be called Len, as if his name was Leonard. That will devalue it altogether," he said.

Relevant Stories

Liam and Patsy's rocky ride (14 Sep 99 | Entertainment)
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