I called my daughter Bambi like Molly-Mae Hague

A young father has revealed that he named his baby daughter Bambi long before Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury settled on the unusual moniker for their firstborn.

Soul Ki-Aries, 26, from Bournemouth, called his now four-year-old daughter Bambi-Beau – and thought it would be a unique name until Bambi Fury came along.

Delivery driver Soul and his partner Nicole, 29, were set on the name before they even knew what gender the baby would be. 

Now Soul says former Love Islanders Molly-Mae and Tommy will influence parents everywhere to call their children the same name.

‘It was annoying,’ he said. ‘We wanted Bambi to be different and unique and now there definitely won’t be anything unique about it.

He predicted that parents-to-be will now be planning to name their children Bambi after being influenced by the star couple. 

‘By 2027 there will be Bambis in every school, every year and every class. As my partner said there will be a global pandemic of Bambi’s ready to swarm the world,’ he said.

‘I feel sorry for her to have her uniqueness taken away and now have to share her name with so many future others.’

Molly-Mae and Tommy received some criticism online for naming their daughter after the Disney cartoon deer, with many pointing out that the character is actually a boy.

Soul said he and Nicole, who works in customer service, were aware of this, but were undeterred in naming their child Bambi regardless of what gender it would be.

Bambi-Beau, now four, was given the unique name by her parents so she would stand out, but now they are worried there will be lots of Bambis by 2027

‘That didn’t matter to us. There are so many names used for boy and girl,’ he said, adding that they had been inspired by its ‘unique beauty’.

They settled on the name without any debate, he said, telling Femail: ‘We wanted something different and unique to match the uniqueness of our baby girl; she is unique to us. 

‘My partner mentioned that she loved the name Bambi whilst going through the “naming ideas”. As soon as she said Bambi I fell in love with the name too, so Bambi she was!’

He also said that having a unique name himself meant he wanted to give his daughter an equally distinctive moniker. 

While his family were overwhelmingly supportive and even ‘loved’ the name, Soul said the couple received mixed comments from friends about the unusual choice. 

Soul and Nicole (second from right and centre) with Bambi (right) and their two other little girls

But, Soul said, Bambi-Beau has received plenty of compliments for her name, with people telling him and his partner: ‘It’s such a beautiful name’, ‘she definitely suits her name, she looks like a Bambi’ and that ‘she will always stand out’.

Some critics of the name have said that while Bambi is sweet for a baby, it won’t carry well into later life, particularly if she wants a serious professional job.

‘She shouldn’t be frowned upon in a professional world for her name,’ said Soul. ‘Her name is beautiful.. and who says it can’t be professional?’

As Bambi-Beau starts preschool, Soul said he doesn’t care what other parents have to say about her name. 

‘It’s not their child or their name,’ he said, adding that they have ‘no concerns’ for their daughter. ‘People make up names these days,’ he said.