Naming Ceremonies and Naming Your Baby Astutely

26 Sep Naming Ceremonies and Naming Your Baby Astutely

Congratulations to all parents with new babies

Including the manager of Derby County football Club, Frank Lampard Junior and his lovely daytime TV presenter wife Christine, on the birth of their baby daughter. Patricia Charlotte Lampard arrived safely into this world on September 21^st and the delighted couple poignantly named her after Frank’s late Mum who tragically died at the age of just 58 from pneumonia in April 2008. Nana Pat will be delighted, and I am available to officiate a naming ceremony for little Patricia!!

https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/1020772/Christine-Lampard-baby-Frank-Lampard-Instagram-pictures-news-name

As a lover of all things ‘footbally’ and a Chelsea supporter I remember her sad passing vividly and the dignified way in which Frank and his family grieved for their lost loved one. Little did I know then, that I would take strength from Frank Lampard when I lost my own dear Mum in the August of the same year. On days when I wanted to give up I thought if Frank could do it, so could I!

How Did You Choose Your Children’s Name?

The safe arrival of Baby Lampard got me thinking about how we choose the names for our children, do we name them in tribute to a lost loved one, a celebrity, an age-old best friend or someone we admire? I must confess right now that the inspiration for my daughter’s name is evident, Chelsea Alice Beryl carries my paternal grandmothers name in Alice and her paternal grandmothers name in Beryl – I’ll let you work out where the Chelsea came from! My sons name is less obvious, Scott George was named after a motorbike, the Scott Flying Squirrel, made by the Scott Motorcycle Company due to his Dad being a motorcycle nut! George is a family name running throughout both maternal and paternal families, so both my children carry endearing names reflecting the history of our families.

Some football fans are not so lucky, after all calling your child Nottingham Forest is a whole new ball game. I do recall a contestant from Pointless being named Holly Mae Jasmine Gillingham Football Club, mainly because her Father was entrusted to register the birth himself – note to all prospective Mums, do not send the other half alone!

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/tv/pointless-contestants-dad-gave-name-13052136

However, Holly got off lightly compared to some of the bizarre names football supporting parents have chosen, including:

• Lanesra – Arsenal backwards
• Jensen Jay Alexander Bikey Carlisle Duff Elliot Fox Iwelumo Marney Mears Paterson Thompson Wallace Preston Named after the whole of the Preston North End squad of 2011 and was taken to his first game aged just eight days. Likewise, there are children named after the entire squads of Leeds United, Cardiff City, Burnley and Rangers!
• YNWA – Pronounced Yeen-Waa, a Norweigan couple named their daughter after the anthem of Liverpool football club, You’ll Never Walk Alone.
• Gylfi – In May 2017 Rhys Stranaghan asked the footballing fraternity to get him 10,000 likes on Facebook as his partner Sammy-Jo would allow him to name their unborn baby Gylfi after the Icelandic striker, Gylfi Sigurdson, kept Swansea City hopes alive in the premier league.

Celebrity Baby Names

We all know the Beckham franchise famously named their only daughter Harper Seven after Dad David’s squad number and the author Harper Lee. Brooklyn Beckham was allegedly named after Brooklyn in New York where Victoria learnt she was pregnant, and their other sons Cruz, David’s nod at his time in Real Madrid and Romeo simply because they liked it!

I recall lots of Demi’s and Keanu’s in school with my children and I had a little chuckle when an unruly 5-year-old in Tesco was summoned back to her Mum, “Beyonce, come here”! I was in school with a Henry Morton Stanley and his sister Valentina Tereshkova along with a Pearl Arbour! The Kardashian/West children are famously North, Saint and Chicago – very National Geographic!

For us mere mortals who are looking for more popular names the top girls’ names for 2017 were:

• Olivia
• Amelia
• Isla
• Ava
• Emily

With the boys coming in with:

• Oliver
• Harry
• George
• Noah
• Jack

Congratulations!

Chris & Natasha Evans who recently gave birth to twins Ping & Pong – working title only! I believe they will be better known as Boo and Walt. Hot tips for 2018 are Hunter and Aurora; Ralph, Orla and Edith along with Leo and Theo.

Let’s give a massive shout out to some names which are on the decline:

• Simon
• Shaun
• Ross
• Gemma
• Leanne
• Kirsty

Not forgetting, Gary, dropping from the top 30 in the 60’s & 70’s, falling massively out of fashion today with only 33 babies being named Gary in 2014!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45559619

The Office for National Statistics released this graphic to showing name trends:

Of course, Frank Lampard himself, is named after his football playing Dad Frank Senior. Martina Hingis named after Martina Navratilova and Diego Costa named after Maradonna. So, from Apple to Bear Blaze, De-Niro to Petal Princess and Princess Tiaami to Zuma Nesta be wary on how you name your children, they may have a rebellious side and YNWA support Everton and Lanesra support Fulham! So, to err on the edge of caution it might be wise to stick with naming your pets after your hero’s, on that note I am off to take Diego for a walk!! 

For more information on naming ceremonies please click on the link to my website. I am happy to chat about how I can make your baby’s naming ceremony unique and amazing; I will even let you pick the names!

Naming Ceremonies