A recent thread on unusual names threw up an excellent collection of what-were-they-thinking-of?s, such as Beetroot, Zargon, Rabbit and Carrot. I rather liked some of those similarly rated by others – Calypso, Africa, Talulah strike me as striking: distinctive, but not inviting derision.

You do, surely, have to question the sanity of people who would call their offspring Dulux & Double Gloss (reported by the spouse of a teacher), or Laa-Laa – named consciously and avowedly after the Tellytubby.

The thread also generated a couple of excellent related posts:

I remember listening to “Does the Team Think” on radio 4 one day and there was a question: “Does the team think that parents give enough thought to naming their children?” It was from a Mr Norman Conquest.

And:

My midwife sister in law had to point out to a new mother that maybe she might like to rethink the naming of her son. Mrs Carte couldn’t understand why calling her son after her favourite film star, Orson Welles, might not be the best idea.