The Naming Of Names

The Manchester United, for the time being, footballer, Mr. Wayne Rooney is now a father for the second time, Mrs. Colleen Rooney having given birth to a son a couple of days ago.  Congratulations to them both and my hopes that all goes well.

The child has been named Klay Anthony Rooney.  The reports suggest that the first name represents the practice among celebrities of choosing very modern or “different” names to distinguish them from the common herd.

This was once a practice in certain of the more ambitious and publicity seeking members of the former and now defunct aristocracy.  Old habits are hard to shake off in British society.

One problem is that the immediate effect is to encourage impressionable members of the plebeian classes to do the same.  So there are a lot of them to come.  There is a snag however, and that is sometimes these things need a bit of research.

After many hours toiling in libraries (OK half a minute on Wikipedia) this is what I came up with.  Apparently Klay is a character in a TV series called “Chaotic” that has escaped my relentless surfing of the Sky channels.

Quote:

Klay is not popular to say the least. He lies, steals and swindles newbies out of their best cards as well as grabbing any advantage over opponents that he can, but stops just short of outright cheating in matches to avoid being disqualified.

He also likes to lurk in the food court and eat people's leftovers. Everyone knows Klay's a dirty slimeball, but the problem is nobody can prove it.

Frankly, Klay couldn't care less what the other players think of him, and what the Code Masters don't know can't hurt him. he plays strip poker with the other players for their "cards"

In Perim, Klay is no more restricted by rules than by decency. He will often follow other players to good finds before jumping in and stealing their scans. Sometimes, he even tries to get rid of rivals ("dying" in Perim results in your Chaotic profile being deleted).

A longtime rival of Kaz's, Klay took an instant disliking to Tom as well and has spent most of the series attempting to sabotage both of them. It's been now known that he and Krystella work for Lord Van Bloot.

He also has an Australian accent implying that he is from Australia. His appearance somewhat resembles Bono and David Bowie. His Chaotic username is Klayotic.

Unquote.

Yes, well, these things happen.  But an Aunt who lived in Formby and was a much nearer neighbour to Mr. Rooney than she wanted to be would not be surprised.  She had strong opinions on the subject.

Perhaps the Anthony name comes from recent Prime Minister Blair and also relates also to his father-in-law, Anthony Booth, father of Cherie Blair nee Booth.  This is possible in that the Booths were close to the same patch as the Liverpool Rooney family.

One question is where did the earlier Rooney family come from?  One patch with an extended network of Rooney’s also has a number of other families in Liverpool in the past who are closely connected.

By one of those quirks of genealogical fate they connect to the Bowes-Lyon family.

Who needs “Dynasty”?