It's Arthur Elwen Cameron

Samantha Cameron found the name Elwen whilst reading a book.  Nancy and Ivan are the names of the Camerons' other two children.  See Ananova for a little more.

Comments

[Rob Largan]

Still think Jack is a nicer name.

[Editor]

Also see Sky News and their feeble attempt at a Sun-like headline....

[Andrew Woodman]

The guy who bet on Archie in the Oxford William Hill branch obviously only heard half the conversation.

[Graeme Archer]

Now, for the first time, I wish I could change my leadership vote.

yours sincerely
Graeme Ernest Barclay Archer.

Let that be a warning to parents everywhere.

[Editor]

BBCi: "Elwen, a name apparently of English origin which means "elf-wise friend", is a character in the Lord of the Rings. Newspaper reports have previously suggested that Mr Cameron's supporters play a game in which they imagine themselves in a political version of Middle Earth, with their leader cast as the Tory version of JRR Tolkien's Frodo."

[Rob Largan]

That poor child will be taken apart in the playground....

[Richard Weatherill]

"That poor child will be taken apart in the playground...."

Shouldn't that be "the quad"?

[Will Liddle]

If from Elvish then 'Elwen' means 'Star Maiden' and is undeniably female.

If from English, it really should be spelt 'Elwin' or 'Elwyn'. In Welsh, 'Elwen' is a girl's name.

[Chad]

Graeme Ernest Barclay Archer wrote:
"Let that be a warning to parents everywhere."

Indeed, mine was not your average Plaistow name and was plain silly until I went to the Soviet Union in 1986 just four weeks before Chernobyl. Chad Noble, Chernobyl, and it's even more similar in Russian.

As someone who has become so used to being asked what it is short for, I tend to say it is long for "ch", I can guarantee that
there will be no poking fun at little Arthur's middle name from me.

[Graeme Archer]

good point. I shall henceforth say that Graeme is the long form of "Grrr".

[Richard Weatherill]

I probably shan't be telling people that Richard is the long form of Dick!

[Will Liddle]

Appears the Tories have issued a statement refuting the whole 'Middle Earth' theory, if the BBC's revision of their article a few minutes ago is anything to go by. Even so, if they did get it from a baby book, they were looking in the wrong gender section.

[Selsdon Man]

Chad is a great name for a Bush supporter, especially in Florida.

Arthur shares his name with my brother-in-law - no complaints there.

[Selsdon Man]

"I probably shan't be telling people that Richard is the long form of Dick!"

Pity the poor Woking footballer of the 1980s - Richard Head!

[James Maskell]

I was born Kelvin James Flint (long story). Little Arthur has some sympathy. Arthur's a good name. Elwen...i guess its a conversation starter.

[Ted]

Will Liddle

Was going to say that after Shirley was re-sexed to a girls name and Robin used by both sexes that in these metrosexual times using a Welsh girls name was surely fair but Google searches show its an English boys name meaning "old friend".

Still feel there's a Tolkien influence at play.

[Selsdon Man]

Come on James, tell us the reason for your name change!

[James Hellyer]

Probably something to do with adoption.

[Frank Young]

Arthur is a fab name, I like!

Elwen, hmmmm... nevermind.

[Patsy Sergeant]

My fathers forenames were Cyril Evelyn, I always thought Evelyn was odd as I thought it was a girls name, but you didn't ask questions about names of your father, when mine was alive. Does anybody know if Evelyn is also a boys name - somewhere?!

[William Norton]

Evelyn Waugh was plagued in his early career by book reviewers "accidentally" assuming he was a female writer. They didn't make the mistake twice.

A lot of these bisexual names (if that's the right term) are adopted as a first name from a mother's surname, as a means of keeping it alive. So, for example "Fitzwilliam Darcy" - although he didn't actually exist, of course.

[Patsy Sergeant]

Yes, of course! I had forgotten about Evelyn Waugh.

[Ted]

Evelyn Waugh (He-Evelyn) married Evelyn Gardner (She-Evelyn)

[William Norton]

I've just re-read my previous post. Bad example, "Fitzwilliam" isn't actually a girl's name.

Better example, of course, would be "Cameron".

[Jon White]

I think the term is "uni-sex' names, not 'bisexual'. And having such a name hasn't done Hilary Benn any harm, has it?

[James Maskell]

James Hellyer was right. I was adopted in 1990 and changed my name to Kelvin James Maskell, but didnt like being called Kelvin in school so got it changed a few years later.

As for Hilary Benn, I always thought he was a she until I saw a photo of him...

[a-tracy]

Arthur is a good solid traditional name. My favourite Arthur was Arty in Half a sixpence.

I think Tracy could be a boy's name (poor soul) but everyone knows it is correctly spelt without the 'e' and definitely not with an 'i' instead of the 'y'!

[Annabel Herriott]

Go on with you - Its a perfect middle name for an Aquarian!

[Will Liddle]

To Ted:

Yes, if spelt 'Elwin' or 'Elwyn', however the use of 'en' is feminine, which is why it is generally the female version. I also did a Google search, and could only find the Cameron's version in relation to female names with a single exception: a boxer from Doncaster called Elwen Brooks. Of course names are flexible, even more so these days, but there is a clear masculine alternative in this case - kind of like Joe/Jo - and the Camerons chose the feminine one instead. Is it too late to change the 'e' to an 'i'?

[Rob Largan]

Any change now would be an embarressment. Poor Arthur Elwen will without doubt face continuous abuse from his peers throughout his formative years. As someone very nearly named Cemal, I have sympathy with him.

Couldnt be be bothered being called Arthur Elwen myself.

[Andrew Woodman]

Arthur is quite a trendy name at the moment I believe, so my girlfriend tells me. I'm a sad tory after all so wouldn't know.

[Ted]

Will
Type in origin of name elwen and among others:
http://baby-names.yeahbaby.com/baby.php?name=Elwen
http://www.kitt.net/babynames.php?sex=Male&letter=e
http://www.babiesonline.com/babynames/boybabynames/boybabynamesE.asp

The last one points out Elwen is alternative form of Alvin (as is Elvis) so it could have been worse....

[Will Liddle]

True, but these do not mean 'Elf [wise] friend' - because in Old English, as I've already said, the change from Elwin to Elwen changes the gender and the meaning. Which was my original point: that the name isn't translated as it should be, and if Tolkien based, Welsh based or Old English based is morphologically feminine. As far as I can see, most of these sites are American, which is of some significance, as the USA has a strange collection of name changes. This might appear to be pedantic, but consider that 'Elwen' is still used in GB as a female name in Wales and not widely used as a male name. The root form of Elwin and Elwen are actually different (hence the loss of the 'elf' part of the translation on most of those sites), and again the difference is primarily one of prestige and gender.

Anyway, I don't think I'll push for a change - there are, as has been pointed out, far worse names to call a child. It was more a point of personal amusement to be honest.

[Donal Blaney]

Maybe this latest child will remind David Cameron of his conservative roots and Ronald Reagan's maxim: "Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."

[James Hellyer]

Arthur's a good Conservative name. I approve.

[William Norton]

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Tory PM 1828-30; Conservative PM 1834:
won Battle of Waterloo, bungled parliamentary reform and destroyed Tory Party (score draw)

Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Conservative PM 1884-85, 1886-92; Unionist PM 1895-1902:
oversaw transition to pro-business, mass-membership party (away win)

Arthur James Balfour, later Earl Balfour
Unionist PM 1902-1905:
invented state secondary education; bungled tariff reform; ushered in 17 yrs of Liberal government (away defeat)

Arthur Neville Chamberlain
National PM 1937-1940:
failed to spot Hitler wanted to conquer world (home defeat)

[Andrew]

Apart from Lord Salisbury, politically speaking, I hope his father, or Arthur for that matter, doesn't follow the same paths as the other three did.

[Rob Largan]

Dont be too harsh on the Duke of Wellington, he oversaw emancipation of the Catholics and had the sense to see that Robert Peel had to be PM instead of himself, leading to the greatest British PM of the 19th century.

[Eric]

Arthur is an unpleasent name harsh on the ear. He will certainly get beat up on the playground every day. In television and cinema this name is always given to the nerdy, dorky character nobody wants to be friends with.