What's in a name? New parents prefer to keep it in the family
Harper Seven is the latest child to be born into the Beckham clan, following Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz into one of the most famous families in the world. But for the average parents, it appears naming a new child is often more of a family affair.
A survey of over 900 parents by the UK’s largest childcare voucher provider, Computershare Voucher Services (CVS), has found that of the parents questioned, most are shunning made up and celebrity names, preferring instead to stick with tradition by naming their child after a member of the family.
Over a quarter of parents (27%) questioned say they named their child after a family member, in contrast to just 6% of parents who opted for a made up a name.
And it appears most parents remain uninspired by the cult of celebrity, with only 4% saying they named their child after a celebrity or famous sporting figure.
A fifth of parents (20%) sought inspiration from baby books to help them find the perfect moniker, and a further 4% followed in the Beckham’s footsteps to name their child after a city.
More unusual decisions include naming a child after a music track, taking the name of a famous painter of cats, and for a pair of teachers - avoiding the name of any child they had taught in the past!
Julian Foster, managing director of CVS, said: “Parents can agonise for weeks about choosing the perfect name for their new child. However, unlike many celebrity parents, we’ve found that most prefer to take inspiration from the names of grandparents and other family members. This may go some way to explain why names like Jack and Sophie continue to be amongst the most popular year after year.
“As the largest childcare voucher provider in the UK we work with thousands of parents and their children, we’ve definitely seen a shift towards more unusual names in recent years. So who knows, maybe we’ll see a Prime Minister Cruz or Queen Sparrow one day.”
Julian added: “My wife and I debated for ages before settling on Gabriel for our baby boy. No family links or famous namesakes, we wanted a traditional and memorable name and it was simply the first one that both of us liked!”
The register - celebrity baby names hitting the headlines
American actress Natalie Portman recently named her new son Aleph after the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet
Kate Hudson announced the arrival of Bingham Hawn Bellamy on July 9
Pop star Pink has opted to name her daughter Willow Sage
Singer Mariah Carey recently revealed the names of her new born twins as Monroe and Morocco
Gwen Stefani’s children are Kingston and Zuma
Nicole Ritchie’s two are called Sparrow James Midnight and Harlow Winter Kate
The best of British, Jamie Oliver and wife Jules, have stayed with nature for their four children, Daisy Boo, Poppy Honey, Petal Blossom Rainbow and Buddy Bear.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin chose Apple for their eldest child
And who’s next? We’ll have to wait and see what Mel B and Lily Allen take as their inspiration.
Computershare Voucher Services is the largest dedicated childcare voucher provider, handling childcare vouchers for over 100,000 working parents every month, via 12,000 organisations.