Looking Back: The influence of the beautiful game on babies names!

Other in vogue names have been Suede, Noah, Onyx, Jupiter and Wednesday, although there is no evidence that it is anything to do with a popular Sheffield football team. Mohammed has topped the list for boys names in our ethnically diverse country.

With football playing such a large part in men’s lives today, you can see the influence of the ‘beautiful game’ in names for babies with Jude, Beckham, Kane, Kyle ,Kylian, Virgil, Luka, Trent, Mason and Marcus. And there seems an emphasis on ‘K’ doesn’t there? Wayne Rooney has four sons, called Kai, Klay, Kit and Cass! However former Sheffield football star, now with Manchester City, Kyle Walker has four sons all with names beginning with R.

A young man from London talked his wife into calling their new daughter Lanesra. She was quite pleased that he had thought up such an unusual and distinctive name, but it was only after two years that it was suggested to her that had she read the name backwards she might not have been quite so pleased!

It does seem that over 50,000 Brits have changed their birth names by deed poll for whatever reason, although an element of lunacy has crept in. There is ‘Prince of Passion’ ‘Richie Rock Star’ ‘Ava Truly Scrumptious’ ’Monster Munch’ and ‘Aston Martin’. With an Asda worker who changed his name to Dr. Pasty-Smasher Omelette, for a bet. The only person I have personally known is the woman who insisted that, when she married her husband, their surname was changed from Smellie to Smylie. I wonder why!!

Over the years there has been a stream of Elvis Presley, Wayne Rooney, and Amy Winehouse. All more interesting than the Janets, Beryls, Maureens, Brians and Tonys which were popular when I was growing up and are typical of the 1940s, although it seems that my father, a keen reader, called me after the great granddaughter of Charles Dickens which was different!