Unusual Names
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Beckham baby: Why the middle name Seven?
David and Victoria Beckham have named their fourth child Harper Seven. Does their unusual choice of middle name reflect a modern trend?
The Beckhams' sons are Brooklyn Joseph, Romeo James and Cruz David, but for their first daughter, the celebrity couple have decided to hold back on her first name and go freestyle for her second.
As with the birth of their boys, the papers and internet are buzzing with theories on why the Beckhams chose Harper Seven.
Harper has become an increasingly popular name in the US, where the family are now based. It was the 887th most popular for a girl in 2004 but rose to 119 last year.
Seven has been the focus of speculation. There are suggestions it was because she weighed 7lbs 10oz, arrived at 0755 LA time and was born in the seventh month, but the number also has great significance for her father, who played number seven shirt for Manchester United and England.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a middle name is a forename other than a first name, occurring between a person's first name and surname. So "middle name" embraces both a maiden name retained in the child's name as well as an additional "Philip" or "John" after the first name.
Naming conventions vary from country to country but in the English-speaking world, middle names are often a relative's name, usually old-fashioned and highly embarrassing, or a family surname.
There can be more than one. British musician Brian Eno is actually Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno, while Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland is Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland.
Julia Cresswell, author of several books including Naming Your Baby, says middle names were not as common in the past. She says they were a "status thing" and if a husband married a better-connected wife for instance, they made sure her surname passed to their child.
"It tended to be used by those who had family connections.
"It then became a classy thing to do to give more than one name to your child. People have had middle names for centuries but it is only since the 20th Century that it's become the norm for nearly everybody."
She points to the Royal family, with their "stream of names", as a good example of it being an "upper-class thing" - Prince Charles is followed by Philip Arthur George, while Prince William also has the names Arthur Philip Louis.
But Cresswell says their purpose has now changed.
"Growing populations and growing mobility mean you need to distinguish yourself. That's why we use so many different first names these days. There were only a dozen names in regular use in the distant past.
"If you Google John Smith, you get hundreds of hits. Google John Seven Smith and you are not likely to find more than one."
A middle name can be a good safety net if a child hates their first name. And sometimes the initial letter of a middle name becomes very much part of the person, such as former US President George W Bush.
Family psychologist Dr Pat Spungin says some people adopt their middle name to mark a new chapter in their life or because it is a better representation of "the new them".
The Beckhams are not the first to call their child after the lucky number Seven - US rapper and actor Andre 3000, also known as Dre, has a son called Seven. In the TV comedy Seinfeld, George Costanza wanted to call his baby Seven.
And Cresswell points out that there was a character called Seven of Nine in Star Trek Voyager, but she doesn't "have the Beckhams down as Trekkies".
Woman named Laurel-Ann Hardie trends on Twitter, makes web smile
A woman named Laurel-Ann Hardie has made it into Twitter’s trends list – the microblogging site’s most ‘buzzing’ topics at a given time – as users express their delight that the moniker, that of an academic from Canada, is indeed real.
Professor Laurel-Ann Hardie, a lecturer working at the school of contemporary media at Fanshawe College in Ontario, adopted the name when she married her husband, James Hardie, giving up her maiden name Hasen.
On learning her name had created so much interest on Twitter that it had been trending briefly yesterday, she said: I am used to it. My husband and I worked together before we were married and people used to say if you were married you would be Laurel-Ann Hardie.
It just seemed like fate. I am a Laurel and Hardy fan.
I was given lots of posters of them as wedding presents.
Author and broadcaster Charlie Connelly got the Twittersphere talking when he posted a link to her profile on LinkedIn.
He said: If we could track down a Keith Stonecops (Keystone Cops) and a Mark Spruthers (Marx Brothers) too, we`'d really be on to something.
Are you happy with your name? If you could choose another name what would it be?
Comments
My name is Majda. Majda is an arabic name. My mother told me that she didn't choose it. It was my mom's cousin who decide to gave me that name.
In arabic, it means "glory". I'm happy with it, and i think thaht it's a part of me and part of my personality. My friends like my name, that's because they gave me various nicknames, like "Magdalena" in Spain or "Majdou" in France.
I wouldn't want want to chang it. I feel good with it and, in my opinion, if you know who you are, you could use it to be unforgettable.
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Thanks! Majda
We have the same problem with our names - they are difficult for the Spanish to pronounce. FOR MOST, I just pronounce it the Spanish way. I get FED UP having to explain my name.
HAVING SAID THAT, there are Spanish names I have difficulty with - Elena, Esteban, Amparo... I can't put the stress on the right syllable.
I have two English colleagues called Andrea but they have the stress on different syllables. One of them is impossible for me to get right.
I AM WRITING A text TO YOU about my name.
See you tomorrow.
Let's see if we can persuade Nacho to get started in the blog and Facebook.