Yesterday, TV presenter Holly Willoughby announced the birth of her third child with husband Dan Baldwin: a little boy they've named Chester William Baldwin. Chester joins older brother and sister Harry (5) and Belle (3).
Holly is a very well known and popular personality on British television, having presented on many different television shows, most notably as one of the key anchors of ITV's This Morning alongside Philip Schofield.
For readers abroad, you may recognise her as the presenter who defended baby names in the infamous Katie Hopkins Baby Name Rant.
The name Chester is a quirky and quite brave choice, but one the couple have had in mind for a while.
Holly has said: "it's a name we've had for ages, when we had Harry we were umming and aaahing between Chester and Harry." [Daily Mail]
Chester is essentionally a place name, taken from the city of Chester in Cheshire. It is a city of much history, dating right back to Roman occupation, and is one of the best preserved walled cities in Britain.
The name of the city itself derives from the Latin castrum meaning "fort" as it was the home of the XX Valeria Victrix, one of the three legions of the Roman army stationed in Britain. The Romans themselves called the city Deva, thanks to the River Dee, however it was the term castrum which was adopted into Old English as Cestre.
Chester became a surname and was adopted as a first name as early as the 16th century. It has never been very popular in this country, but it has been used in consistent (if low) usage over the last 500 years.
In the last two decades, Chester has seen a rise in usage in England and Wales. In 1996, it ranked #654 (24 births) and maintained that until it sunk down to its lowest point of #1110 (17 births) in 2004.
It has since been on the rise, reaching a peak in 2012 at #507 (74 births). In 2013, it ranked #581 with 61 births.
But, while Chester is by no means a mainstream choice, it has the same cute-clunky style that recent additions to the top 100, such as Oscar, Arthur, Albert, Stanley, Felix and Hugo, have. Added to that, Chester can also boast the very 'hot-right-now' two-syllable -er ending found in rising favorites Dexter, Jasper, Carter, Cooper, Hunter, Parker, Archer, Fletcher etc.
So what are the reactions to Chester? Well, according to Holly, the name might not stick as her son Harry is not in favour and would prefer his brother to be called Frank.
Holly: "But it may still not be - when we told them he was called Chester this morning, Harry said, "No, I want to call him Frank." [Daily Mail].
Other reactions are mixed. Katie Hopkin's has already put in her snide remarks along the lines of it being a "conception place name" ala Brooklyn Beckham, whereas fellow veteran TV presenter Davina McCall (who also has a son named Chester Micky b.2006) has tweeted: "Chester!!!!!!! What a great name!!!!"
Generally, most media outlets seem pleasently surprised. As one recent convert has put it:
"To be honest, I quite like it. It’s got a really pretty Cathedral and the zoo is a brilliant day out with the kids...
Seriously though, after tutting and shaking my head at the moniker, it’s actually growing on me. I think it actually sounds very grand, very masculine, very cool and it’s different without being ridiculous."
Very cool, different without being rediculous? That being the case, Chester is surely a winner.
