A London father has revealed he named his two sons after iconic James Bond villains as a form of 'revenge' against his wife, after she chose a middle name he considered 'pretentious'. William Woodhams, a publishing company director, and his wife Annabel Simpson live in Notting Hill with their sons Stanley Beats Scaramanga Woodhams and Basil Groove Blofeld Woodhams.
Mr Woodhams explained that he was unhappy with his wife's choice of 'Beats' as Stanley's middle name, which referenced her career as a DJ and a character from the BBC sitcom People Just Do Nothing. In retaliation, he added 'Scaramanga'—the villain from the Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun. When their second son Basil arrived, the couple placed an announcement in The Times, and Mr Woodhams took inspiration from Ernst Stavro Blofeld, a recurring Bond adversary.
Despite the unconventional names, Mr Woodhams does not believe his children will face bullying. He noted that many children in their affluent area have unusual names like Tarquin or Farquaad. 'My middle name is Rodney and I grew up when Only Fools and Horses was popular. I got called a “plonker” for ten years,' he said. 'We will back our children and they will likely be loud, fun and funny.'
He urged other parents not to play it safe with dull names, adding that there is 'inverted snobbery' around naming conventions. The revelation follows a separate incident where a new mother accidentally named her baby after a dog food brand, unaware of the association.
