ON Sunday morning, just a few hours before baby Romeo was plucked out of the womb at London's exclusive Portland Hospital, we were welcoming our own little bundle of joy, who chose the same day to emerge into the world at Northallerton's Friarage Hospital.

But while we and the Beckhams shared the same overwhelming feelings of relief and joy at the birth of our newborn sons we, unlike them, couldn't decide on a name.

The famous often choose bizarre, attention-grabbing monikers for their children, like Zowie Bowie, Betty Kitten and Fifi Trixibelle. And the Beckhams certainly managed to get people talking. Everyone on our maternity ward had a view about Romeo.

"Imagine calling: Romeo, Romeo, your tea's ready," said one midwife. "He'll get called Juliet in the playground," cautioned one grandad. "Especially if he talks like his dad."

But as a parent faced with the awesome responsibility of naming a child, my sympathies were with the Beckhams. Because baby-naming is a tricky business for everyone. It's a social and cultural minefield, betraying much about our backgrounds and aspirations. And who knows what we are condemning our child to should we choose the wrong name?

As if we poor, sleep-deprived new parents didn't have enough to worry about, psychologist Raj Persaud, commenting on the name Romeo, warned people with peculiar names tend to be more emotionally disturbed than those with common names.

"Names carry stereotypes and determine the way others react to you, they could be vital in influencing judgements about us," he says. As we swung between George, Albert, Kit, Harvey, Arthur, Archie and Alfie, that was all we needed to hear.

Discussing names you are considering with others is a big mistake, too. And choosing one that has been ridiculed takes courage. Albert was greeted with howls of laughter. "Albert Tatlock, Albert Steptoe. Uncle Albert. You can't call a child Albert."

It is tempting to play it safe and choose from those popular, traditional names. But when your child gets to school, you may find you may as well have called them Boy or Girl, there are so many others called the same.

And people with common names can end up blaming their parents for condemning them to ridicule too. Actor Colin Firth says of his name: "It doesn't exactly have a ring to it. It's the sort of name you would give your goldfish for a joke."

We parents just can't win. Those who choose Otis, Maia or Mercedes are trying too hard to be different. The hijacking of working-class names like Stan and Sidney by the chattering classes has become cliched. And names like Britney, Kylie or Freya have an obvious sell-by date

We almost chickened out and played safe with George. But then we decided David Beckham, who said he and Posh chose Romeo "because it's a name we both loved" was right.

Some may laugh, but we decided simply to go for the name we both loved too. Albert. It's traditional, but slightly quirky. And he could be a Bertie, Albie or Al eventually.

Yes, it's definitely Albert. At least I'm pretty sure it is...