听Listen again in full
If you were to read the name Lynn Lewis sewn into a second-hand gymslip or school blazer, you'd hardly find it noteworthy. Yet it is a name that has, for its owner, caused decades of embarrassment because Lynn is a lad...
Lynn Lewis...a man |
Lynn Lewis' parents always gave him, what he considered, rather weak excuses for the fact that he was christened with a girl's name.
One theory put forward was that Lynn was named after an actor, Ralph Lynn. Another idea was that Lynn was a name that couldn't be shortened.
Either way, Lynn's definitely not impressed by the choice. It became a bit of problem for Lynn when he became a journalist and started getting letters addressed to 'Miss Lynn Lewis'.
But a good moment for him was when an athlete called Lyn Davies won a gold medal in the Olympics. "That was terrific. He stood up for us Lynns".
Lynn believes that parents have an enormous duty to their children. They shouldn't give their kids silly or dated names like Kylie or Brooklyn.
Lynn has children of his own now and has called his son Lyndon which, he says, "at least has a masculine sound to it".
Lynn has toyed with the idea of setting up a club for people who have been similarly mistreated by their parents. But what should Lynn call his new society? Let us know.