Researchers found a growing number of parents appeared to have ditched traditional names in favour of the more bizarre monikers such as Shy, Unity and Bean.
The survey, for a parenting group, found that more than one in three parents now claimed their child had an unusual name. Experts said many new parents were being influenced by celebrities who had given their children more unusual names.
But they warned parents to “think very carefully” before embarking on unusual names because it could affect their child’s psychology.
The poll found three quarters of people who had given their child a traditional name believed more alternative parents were paving the way for their child to be bullied.
They added that those who had chosen more wacky names were selfish and not thinking of their child.
The “Most Unusual Names of the Decade” list, published on Tuesday, was compiled by Bounty Parenting Club, a parent organisation after it attempted to discover how many had tried to give their baby an unusual name.
The bizarre names were discovered after experts trawled through the millions of recorded names given to newborns over the past decade.
The poll, of more than 3000 parents, found more than one in 10 parents regretted their decision to veer from the norm.
The poll also found that the same number of children, perhaps unsurprisingly, did not like their name while a growing number had asked for it to be changed.
The poll also found that initial reactions from friends and family were varied.
When told what the newborn's name was almost one in five expressed surprise, almost a third asked questions about how to spell it while many requested the parents to repeat the name again to check they had heard properly.
Each of the unusual names on Bounty’s top 20 list, including Zowie, Puppy and Ice, were given to only a handful of babies since 2000.
Rooney, Bowie and Cobain were some of the names given to children by parents who seem to have been influenced by the celebrity footballer and musicians.
There are also a handful of unusual hippy-style names such as Stone, Gift, Heaven and Echo, while the fashion world might have inspired the names Denim, Diesel and Armani.
"Our records have uncovered these unusual name choices of parents over the decade, illustrating the ever growing trend for wackier, celebrity-style names not previously heard of in Britain's playgrounds,” said Bounty spokeswoman Faye Mingo.
"It's great to see parents being creative and wanting their children to stand out from the crowd with more unusual names but there are a few names here that children may find hard to live up to.
“The majority of parents polled said their unusual choice was because they didn't want their child to share anyone else's name.”
But she added: "Parents do need to think very carefully about everything that comes attached to an unusual moniker as it can definitely shape a child's experiences from how they are treated at school and beyond."
TOP 20 MOST UNUSUAL NAMES
1. Shy
2. Unity
3. Bean
4. Zowie
7. Victory
10. Denim
11. Diesel
12. Armani
13. Rooney
14. Bowie
15. Cobain
16. Stone
17. Gift
18. Echo
19. Heaven
20. Maroon
Article: 2nd August 2010 www.telegraph.co.uk
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