Record numbers change their name

A record number of people changed their name this year.

More than 90,000 swapped their name in 2010, an increase of 80 per cent, figures from the Legal Deed Poll Service revealed.

Among them was David Lennox, 29, an NHS call operator from Aberdeen, who is now Her Majesty The Queen after launching an online poll to find a new name to raise funds for the Association for International Cancer Research.

Jelly Tot fanatic Jane Nash from Manchester is now Miss Jelly St Tots after a friend bought her the new name for her 40th birthday. John Denton, 33, from Lowestoft in Suffolk has become Willy Wonka to collect £5,000 for Cancer Research, after his mother died from the disease.

A spokeswoman for the Legal Deed Poll Service said: "While many sought to make the alteration due to divorce or to bring a bit of cheer to their lives, others just fancied a change."