Room temperature IQ alert!
What's in a name, ask US dads. Actually, I suspect it isn't always the dads:

At the age of three, Timberland is too young to be embarrassed about being named after a best-selling brand of footwear, but his mother cringes. "His daddy insisted on it because Timberlands were the pride of his wardrobe. The alternative was Reebok," said the 32-year-old nurse, who is now divorced. "I wanted Kevin."

The boy is not alone: five other Americans were named Timberland in 2000, according to social security records.

A trend for naming children after favourite possessions is accelerating in brand-driven America. The records show that 49 children were named Canon in 2000, followed by 11 Bentleys, five Jaguars and a Xerox. There is also a Gouda and a Bologna, who are named after the cheese and the sausage rather than the places.

Foreign brands are regarded as increasingly chic: Chanel is popular among doting mothers and several boys have been named after a Japanese family car called Camry.

I thought Bentley the name preceded Bentley the car, but you get the idea.

The number of American parents spurning traditional Anglo-Saxon first names is rising sharply. According to the most recent census, least 10,000 different names are now in use, two thirds of which were largely unknown before the second world war.

As I have mentioned previously, you can do your own searching at the SSA.