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Baby names: Jack, Claire, Olympics

More than 4,000 children in China have been given the name Aoyun, meaning Olympic Games, in the past 15 years. The rise in popularity of the name is seen as a sign of support for the Games being staged in August in Beijing, according to the BBC.

Officials in charge of the country’s identity cards say that more than 92% of the 4,104 registered Aoyuns are boys.

It is not uncommon for Chinese children to be given names of common events and popular slogans - such as Defend China, Build the Nation and Space Travel. The BBC’s Chinese service says that in recent weeks babies have also been given names such as Hope for Sichuan, to show solidarity with earthquake victims.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .