US academics studying social trends have discovered that parents are increasingly naming their kids after consumer products reports the BBC.

Psychology Prof Cleveland Evans found that babies have been named after brands as diverse as L’Oreal, fruit company Del Monte and fashion label Armani.

Bizarrely he also uncovered forty-nine children who had been named after the camera company Canon.

Evans said one reason for the rise of the brand names is the desire of parents to mark their offspring out as different.

He says that naming a child after Armani or Chanel associated them with money or exclusivity, reflecting the material hopes of their parents.

Except, it is said in the case of the babies called Canon whom academics suggest are likely to be fragile, expensive to maintain and often unwell, requiring extended periods away from home.