Brits copy celebs with unusual names - for their cars (and they’re most likely to be single women driving black Vauxhalls)

Despite the Beckham’s latest offspring boasting an unusual name, she’s sure to spring a thousand copycats but you’re just as likely to hear proud parents calling out “Harper” to their car as a daughter. As trend conscious celebrities have turned to increasingly wild and whacky names for their children - Harper Seven and Hero having recently joined the band including Apple, Daisy-Boo etc - so have the names the Great British Public choose...for their cars! And it’s not just male petrol-heads who name their cars, the new research conducted by national car supermarket Carcraft revealed that men are nearly as likely as women to admit to having a pet name for their car (44% v 56% percent). What’s more, single people are more likely to name their vehicle (40%) than those who are married, divorced or living with a partner. Small car owners are also more likely to name their car (35%) with Vauxhall or BMW owners being the biggest culprits. Gone are the days of ‘Herbie’, ‘Monty’ or other traditional male car names, with the most popular choice now a female name or a miscellaneous object such as Tangerine, Stitch or The Beast. Women are also most likely to use alliteration and rhyme their nickname with their car make such as Alfa Apple or Vicky Volvo. According to Julia Dallimore, Head of Marketing at Carcraft, “Given how much celebrities seem to dominate all aspects of our every day life - from watching their moves 24-7 on reality TV to buying their various branded clothing and toiletries ranges, it’s little surprise that we copy their naming trends. “Women car owners often form a strong bond with their vehicle and see it as more of a companion than men do. In turn, many refer to it with a fond nickname whereas men tend to view their vehicle in terms of engine size or functionality.” The survey also revealed that of these women, only thirteen percent had a similarly fond name for their partner. Thirty two percent said they washed their car regularly, whereas only fifteen percent of men said they washed their car more than once a month. ends For more information please contact Ben Ormsby or Rowena Fay at Smoking Gun PR on 0161 839 1986 or media@smokinggunpr.c.uk Notes to editors: Carcraft is the UK’s number one used car supermarket with a huge choice of cars available at 11 well-located showrooms nationwide. Please visit carcraft.co.uk for further details. The online research was conducted in February 2011 with 500 Carcraft customers responding as part of a larger customer satisfaction survey.