Over 3,500 children named ‘Olympics’ in China

Here’s a classic example of a world event causing ripples in the world of baby names. A whopping 3590 Chinese citizens bear the name Aoyun, meaning Olympics in Mandarin. This should come as no surprise, considering the impending 2008 Olympic Games to be staged in Beijing.

It seems that this unique moniker is not solely being used to honour the Games themselves, but instead with hopes of injecting some Olympian spirit into Chinese youth. Not that the country lacks in that department – at Athens 2004, China were second only to the USA.

It is thought that some pregnant Chinese woman are “aiming” to give birth at 8.08pm, August 8th 2008, to coincide with the opening ceremony.

There are five Chinese characters that comprise the phrase “Beijing Olympic Games”; Bei, Jing, Ao, Yun and Hui. These are among the 4,100 surnames available for use in Chinese culture. Interestingly, only 100 of these surnames are frequently used, meaning that 84.8% of the population is named using 2.5% of the available surnames.

The survey, carried out by id5.cn and found via ChinaDaily, points out that 2008 will be a record-setting bumper year for Olympics baby names.

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