Unfortunately, no law regulates how parents name their children

Indians are not chary of giving their offspring unusual, even historic, names. Boys named Bose (rather than Subhas Chandra) or Gandhi (instead of the more ambiguous Mohandas) are not unheard of even now, and then there is Skylab Singh, so named as his birth coincided with the fall to earth of a much storied satellite. More recently, Napoleon Einstein’s moniker predictably generated considerable interest when he made his cricketing debut and a couple decided to name their twins Narendra and Modi in May 2014. So, it was entirely fitting that last week’s ‘homecoming’ visit by Barack Obama (who unabashedly announced his hyphenated identity as the ‘first Kenyan-American President of the United States’) inspired several Kenyan mothers to name their babies after him and his family.

The Michelle, Malia and Malia-Sasha christened in 2015 may not ring any bells decades hence, since several others were also given the same names earlier when Obama visited the first time in 2008 before becoming President. But there is little doubt that the boys named AirForceOne Barack Obama and plain AirForceOne this time round will never have to explain their names. While the boys’ names may not have been quite what the Obamas may have wanted, they should be grateful that none has been dubbed Potus or Flotus. Yet.