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Name the company, spare the child: Some
advice for parents with brand name offspring.

This is Lexus the car, not Lexus the child.

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 31, 2003. Picking a company name is not child's play. But today many parents who apparently want only the best for their children are naming their daughters Lexus, Porsche, and Chanel, and their sons Armani, Cartier and Dior. Some experts think that these parents are trying to convey power and status on their kids, but this phenomenon may be taking brand worship a little too far.

In case you thought these brand-conscious kids don't have company, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that over a thousand babies born in the year 2000 were named after luxury goods. And perhaps some not-so-luxury goods -- the reports also turned up kids named Loreal (a supermarket cosmetic brand), Timberland, and even a few half-pints named Guinness. As of yet, this spate of creative naming hasn't turned up any boys named Testarossa or 540i, but it's just a matter of time.

How far does branding your precious cargo go? A woman in Florida was so in love with the Chanel brand that she not only named her daughter after her favorite hand bags, but had the Chanel logo tatooed on her neck to commemorate her daughter's birth. Her husband, not to be outdone, had the logo tatooed on his chest. The child's name: Chanel Monet Hunter.

So what do naming a new business and naming a child have in common? These attempts to cash in on corporate cachet on behalf of the just-born seem a bit short-sighted because of all the baggage these names carry. What if young Timberland is spooked by the woods? What if Guinness can't hold his beer? How will Porsche feel driving a Neon? And what if the namesake of your brand name baby tanks big time? Just explain to your kid why you named him Parmalat.

Actually, there may be something to Chanel Hunter's middle name -- Monet -- painters don't go out of style as quickly as companies with balance sheet problems. They seem to get better as they get older.