As reported here by the BBC, Professor Cleveland Evans of Bellevue University says that his recent study of social security records reveals that the tendency for Americans to name their children after popular brand names is on the increase. On a personal note, my wife has heard tell of two Texan boys by the names of Dorito and Lemonjello (pronounced after "Angelo"), in reference to a corn chip and a gelatin desert respectively. My daughter's name is Ingrid, which seems untrendy in the light of these findings. Should we rename her something with more branding power, like Adobe or Passat? If we have a son one day, maybe we could name him McNuggets or perhaps Wal-Martin. What happens if someone named Tylenol becomes famous? Can they be sued for diluting the mark? From the article:
[Evans] has found that car models are a popular source of inspiration; 22 girls are registered as having the name Infiniti while 55 boys answer to Chevy and five girls to Celica. Seven boys were found to have the name Del Monte - after the food company - and no less than 49 boys were called Canon, after the camera. Designer firms and types of clothing were also well represented, with almost 300 girls recorded with the name Armani, six boys called Timberland and seven boys called Denim.
No comments:
Post a Comment