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Richard: For the last level 3 podcast we talked about people changing their names, but for this week's podcastsinenglish.com we're talking about the trend for novel baby names.
Jackie: Yes, one person not happy is the pope um… who recently urged parents to give their children Christian names. He thinks all names should come from the Christian calendar.
Richard: Yes, it's interesting in the UK, all forms etc., they used to say, 'What's your Christian name and your surname?'
Jackie: Yes, “What's your Christian name? Richard”, yeah.
Richard: Yeah, but now of course it's not your Christian name, it's first name.
Jackie: Yes, it's “What's your first name?” Well, I suppose that just reflects that the UK has become a… a multi-faith and nondenominational culture, hasn't it? So what's the Pope worried about? I know that um… famous people they're really into having some wacky names, aren't they?
Richard: Yes. A lot of famous people have um… wacky-named children. I know Bob Geldof's two daughters [are] Pixie and Peaches.
Jackie: Mmm, and continuing with the [laughs]… and continuing with the fruit theme er… Gwyneth Paltrow has a daughter called Apple.
Richard: Yes, cities are very popular. Erm… David Beckham's eldest boy is called Brooklyn.
Jackie: There's Paris, Paris Hilton.
Richard: Yes, um… and obviously Bill and Hilary Clinton's daughter [is] called Chelsea.
Jackie: Yeah. And I know that er… Sarah Palin, all of her children have got strange names and one is called Bristol. But the problem is it's not just a celebrity fad, it’s you know… we common folk apparently are doing the same kind of thing. Madison and Summer are very um… common, becoming more common for British names.
Richard: Yes, it's interesting in that um… in the past lots of people had very similar names because they wanted to fit in, but now people are wanting their children to stand out and have unique names which is an interesting move.
Jackie: Yes, and I think part of the reason why the pope is upset about this is he feels that, you know, children are people they're not merchandise, they're not commodities, they're not things, they're… they’re people and they should be given people's names.
Richard: Right
Jackie: In the UK… one of the reasons why the Pope is upset with the UK, is as we talked about in the last level 3 podcast, in the UK you can be called anything, you can call yourself anything. Other countries are a lot more strict, aren't they?
Richard: Yes um… in Denmark, Spain, Portugal and Argentina, they actually have a list of acceptable names.
Jackie: Mmm, and um… I know that in Italy usually um… people are named after saints but then, you see, recently the footballer Francesco Totti he's called his daughter Chanel which is breaking the rules.
Richard: Ryan Giggs, now he's got... I don't know whether it's a girl or a boy but it's called Liberty.
Jackie: Well, it's interesting then that we don't know whether it's a boy or a girl because I know in er… Germany and Austria, it's a statutory duty, that the first name must indicate the sex of a child…
Richard: Mmm, that's interesting.
Jackie: ...and it can't be a place or an object.
Richard: Right. And in some countries some particular names are banned.
Jackie: Mmm, Portugal, you can't call anyone Lolita or Maradona [laughs] er… Mona Lisa. I think it's a bit of shame really that some parents want their kids to stand out and be a star and therefore they call their child Apple or something.
Richard: Well, it puts a lot of pressure on the child doesn't it? And after all I think it's much more important um… what the child or the person does and who they are rather than what they're called.
Jackie: Absolutely
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