London - The decision by the Rooneys to call their new son Klay, a name beginning with the same letter as that of his older sibling Kai, is part of a trend that started in America and is catching on fast.
And if you’re wondering who’s responsible, then the blame can be laid firmly at the door of the stars of US TV series Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
It’s a fly-on-the-wall reality show that follows the lives of the incredibly rich and rather shallow Kardashian family, all the female members of which have a name starting with the letter K.
Kris Jenner is the matriarch of the brood and it was her idea to give her daughters names which all began with the same letter, for no other reason than she thought it was “cute”. So it is that Kris is mother to Khloe, Kourtney, Kim, Kendall and Kylie.
Her most famous daughter, Kim, has taken things even further by dating and marrying men whose names also begin with K. First came her famously short blink-and-you’ll-miss it 72-day marriage to basketball player Kris Humphries. Now she is expecting a baby with rapper Kanye West and claims that she is also planning to give their child a K name.
Mariah Carey continued the theme when she named her two-year-old twins Moroccan (a boy) and Monroe (a girl).
Film director Robert Rodriguez, whose films include From Dusk Till Dawn, Spy Kids and Sin City, really embraced the idea when he called his four sons Rocket, Racer, Rebel and Rogue. His daughter is named Rhiannon. Of course not only is it not unusual for those in the public eye to give their offspring unusual and wacky names, it’s positively de rigueur.
When Beyonce and her husband Jay Z named their daughter Blue Ivy they continued a long-established theme of celebrities giving their offspring colourful names.
Mick Jagger and his first wife Bianca started the ball rolling when they named their daughter Jade. Since then rock star Sting has had a daughter called Fuchsia (although she now prefers to go by Kate), The Edge from U2 has a daughter called Blue Angel while Geri Halliwell named her daughter Bluebell.
Then there are the stars who choose to name their children after places. Brooklyn Beckham, the oldest son of David and Victoria, is the most famous example of this.
It was widely believed that he was named after the place of his conception, but his mother revealed in her autobiography that it was actually because she was in New York when she found out she was pregnant.
Actress Reese Witherspoon has just named her son Tennessee after her home state while singer Alicia Keys has a son called Egypt and, even though she hails from Colombia and her partner is Spanish, singer Shakira recently chose to call her baby son Milan.
And let’s not even get started on the daftest craze of all – royal-themed names. Katie Price and Peter Andre called their daughter Princess Tiaamii, while Michael Jackson gave both his sons the same name, Prince Michael.
Since the Kardashian programmes began screening in the UK, online parenting forums have been awash with postings asking whether it is cool, cute or crass to give their children names all starting with the same letter.
With the arrival of baby Klay it looks like a trend that’s set to stay – especially if Kai and Klay are soon joined by siblings called Kandy and Konner. - Daily Mail