Cara Montgomery has been a mum for five weeks. She waited to meet her son before deciding on a name to go with Cameron, her partner Garry’s surname. Two days later, inspiration struck. “I remember being drawn to this article on Facebook,” Montgomery, 26, says from her home in Edinburgh. “I just kind of looked at it and went … Corbyn? It was the first name we both agreed on.”
Corbyn Cameron may not be alone. More than half the 1,300 parents surveyed by Channel Mum website last month said they “would consider” using the name, suggesting the politician’s youth appeal extends further than anyone could have imagined. It may or may not be the last time Corbyn gets more than 50% in a poll, but are so many parents really naming their children after him?
Short answer: probably not. “Considering” Corbyn is one thing – going through with Corbyn is quite another. But it did come naturally to Montgomery, the only Jez-inspired mother I could find. “I definitely agree with his political views,” she says. “But Garry mainly liked it because he loves The Fifth Element.” Bruce Willis played Korben Dallas in the 1997 sci-fi. The rise of that spelling reveals how pop culture can shape the birth register; no Korbens were born in England and Wales in 1996, but, by 2002, almost 200 had been.
Corbyn, also derived from the old French Corbin (little raven), is a more traditional spelling. But government stats suggest Jeremy may only be piggybacking on Bruce. In 1996, when numbers for all names were first recorded, there were no Corbyns either. But by 2002, 38 had arrived. The name fluctuated until 2015, when 15 Corbyns were born in the year Jeremy became Labour leader (15 Theresas were also born that year, as well as nine little Nigels).
More recent stats are not available but, notwithstanding surveys, Jeremy might eat his Lenin cap if his name rockets up the rankings. Corbyn is rarer still in Scotland; just one arrived in 2015, and none in 2016 (the Scots are quicker to release their stats). The closest in Scotland last year was one Corbin – and a Corbynn.
Corbyn Asbury, who is 26, is a rare, unpublished pre-1996 Corbyn. His mother was inspired by Corbin Bernsen, the LA Law actor, adapting his name to complement her own, Lynda. Asbury lived a normal life until Jeremy’s recent rise from obscurity. “Even my Uber driver today was like: ‘Oh, like Jeremy?’” he says. Fortunately he is also a big Jeremy Corbyn fan.
Montgomery says none of her friends or family have raised an eyebrow. She hopes Corbyn will grow up to like his name, regardless of his namesake’s fate. “We are quite impulsive, but hopefully he behaves,” she says (Jeremy, she means). More than anything she loves the word. “It sounds silly but people say you look at a baby and know what it is. I look at him now and he’s Corbyn – my Corbyn,” she says.
