City teen named Ikea drops furniture brand as first name

It all started 20 years ago when a mum-to-be saw an advert for a furniture store on TV. 

And nearly two decades later the Swedish retail company now means far more than flat-pack furniture and meatballs to her daughter.

Jasmine Dagless was named Ikea when she was born in 2002 - but recently made the decision to make the brand moniker her middle name.

Miss Dagless, now 19, said that although she likes the name she was bullied at school.

She said: "I did not want to get rid of it completely as it was the name my mum and dad chose for me. 

"Most of my family and friends still call me Ikea or Kea for short." 

Despite being named after the Nordic brand, Miss Dagless confirmed she has never visited Sweden or even the furniture shop itself.

The only Ikea possession she owns at her city centre flat is a second-hand chest of drawers.

Miss Dagless' dad Bradley Wheeler passed away in 2018 at the age of 52 just as she was leaving foster care at the age of 16.

He had agreed to the name Ikea on the condition he could choose his daughter's middle name, Jasmine, which has gone on to become her first name.

Despite being bullied for her name, Miss Dagless said she never felt any resentment towards her parents and is still close to her mother.

Speaking to the Evening News at the time of Ikea's birth in 2002, Linda said: "I was pregnant, sitting on the sofa with my boyfriend and trying to think of a name for the little girl I was going have when I noticed the Ikea advert.

"I saw the name Ikea and thought it would make a nice name for my baby.

“I have seen the Ikea adverts on TV and in magazines and thought they always had nice furniture, but I’ve never been to the shop."

The name Ikea is made up from the initials of its Swedish founder, Ingvar Kamprad, plus the first letter of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the farm and village where he grew up.

Other unusual names in the world 

Ikea is not a name people hear every day but there are plenty of other quirky Christian names out there.

• Corona Newton, who lives in Oldham, told media outlets she had endured plenty of jokes about beer before the pandemic put a completely new complication on her name.
• Business magnate Elon Musk has also thought up some imaginative names. One of his seven children is called X Æ A-Xii which has resulted in the entrepreneur taking questions on television about the pronunciation of his son's name.
• Comedian and television presenter Jonathan Ross has named his two daughters Honey Kinney and Betty Kitten. Meanwhile his son is called Harvey Kirby.
• Coldplay singer Chris Martin's two children are the apple of his eye with his first child sharing a name with the popular fruit. 
  

  Coldplay's Chris Martin - Credit: PA

• Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's four children are North, Chicago, Saint and Psalm.