by Ethel Smith

Created on: February 09, 2009   Last Updated: February 22, 2009

Some celebrity names will always set trends. In fact you can often determine a person's age just by hearing their Christian name. For example, my husband being a Trevor was named after Trevor Howard the actor. My hubby actually had a brother called Howard and so I guess his Mum was truly besotted with this actor. However at least years ago most of the names were run of the mill. Sure, we would have the occasional Tyrone ,which does really sit well on a rough and tumble sort of guy but this was not the norm.

Nowadays, as names become more obscure and strange, one can only assume that in future years a whole set of adults will have a peculiar array names. Lately celebrity followers have taken this one step further and begun naming their children not after the celebrity but the same as the celebrity's child. This can be a painful experience for children depending what name the parents choose.

In England we have seen Posh and Becks call their children some offbeat names. For those who do not know these celebrities he, Becks or David Beckham is a famous footballer, whilst his wife Posh or Victoria, was a Spice Girl. Having called their boy after the place he was conceived, that is Brooklyn, I can only hope that this trend will not catch on. God help us if it does and we have children called Barnsley, Rotherham, Accrington or Burton Agnes.

Since the days of Bob Geldoff calling his daughters Peaches and Fifi Trixibell many ordinary folk do seem to look for the unusual when naming their children. Although there is nothing wrong with that they do need to consider the fact that the name will stay with the child forever. I recently came across an Indiana, who was obviously named after the Indiana Jones films. Whether this name is appropriate depends on the child's surname, his personality, what he grows up to be like and his occupation in years to come. Such names often such a child but not a man. If he becomes a doctor it may suit him well, however, if he works as a labourer on a building site he may have a hard time.

The trend for the wild and wacky baby names, that celebrities call their children, definitely seems to have rubbed of in general on the younger generation. I have never come across so many children with names like Paris, Morgan, Ethan, Niall, Lara and Lois. I wonder if somewhere along the line a trend will begin to revert to classic names such as Gertrude, Gladys, Eileen, Ethel, May and Herbert. In some ways this could be just as monstrous for the poor child but fashion seems to go in cycles, so watch this space.

One naming fashion that seems to passed is naming a child after their Mother, Father, Grandparent or the like. When I was young it was either such a name or a child was named after the church that they attended. This too could cause problems as my brother was destined for either Stephen or Jude, as our church name.

When you think about it, the naming of children is very odd and it is very hit and miss as to whether you have a lovely name or a terrible one. So please parents try not to follow trends and consider your new baby's name well.

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