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Celebrities are known to bestow their children with some rather odd names.

I’m sure you’ve seen the lists, which we won’t rehash here, and let’s not forget the Elon Musk / Grimes fiasco from earlier this year.

It appears they settled on X Æ A-Xii, in case you care.

Whilst there’s a good chance that young man will be ridiculed throughout his life (he’ll be really rich, so whatever), naming your youngster Liam is certainly not out of the ordinary.

A fine name, I think we can all agree, and one that is surging in popularity in certain parts of the world, reports the Guardian:

For American baby boys, the short form of Uilliam or William has been the most popular choice for three years running, with 20,502 boys named Liam born in the US in 2019 alone.

Liams are also on the rise in Canada (third in the baby name charts) and France (11th place in 2018)…

However, the name has seen a drop in popularity in Ireland, from where it originated, as well as in England and Wales.

Gabriele Rodríguez, who works at Leipzig University’s centre for name research, says ‘Liam’ could become the next ‘Kevin’:

“Some names, like Emma, are slow burners that continue to be popular around the globe…But it’s rare for a name to rise from nowhere in different parts of the world at the same time, especially if it used to be confined to one country or language.”

She added: “You could compare it to the popularity of Kevin, which went through a boom phase in the 90s and then became stigmatised as a ‘lower class’ name. Liam doesn’t have that stigma yet, but it could eventually be headed that way.”

Rise up and unite, Liams, against such tyranny.

When you’re of age, which could be a while.

The reason behind the popularity of the name has been widely speculated on by researches, who say it could be due to former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher (not a great role model), Liam Neeson (he has a unique set of skills, which must be why every movie of his is exactly the same), or Liam Hemsworth (he takes his shirt off a great deal and dated Miley Cyrus).

Maybe Liam Payne, that One Direction guy? Who knows, and who cares?

Rather humorously, the most popular middle name for babies named Liam in Germany is Noel.

Last year, an estimated 3 800 German babies were named Liam, as opposed to just 334 in the Republic of Ireland.

Will the name Liam eventually wane in popularity? Yes, but it could take a while:

“People started by taking names from film stars such as Kevin Costner or Macaulay Culkin’s character in Home Alone,” said Rodríguez.

“But then a name avalanches down to your local neighbourhood and once you know enough Kevins or Liams you dislike, that name can get unpopular very quickly.”

That’s why you have to raise your Liam right.

Don’t let him ruin it for the rest.

[source:guardian]