Camerons' new arrival has a Cornish ring to her name

"St Endellion! St Endellion! The name is like a ring of bells." Until now, the Cornish village was best known for this tribute by Sir John Betjeman in 1950. The calm was interrupted only by tourists and by the film crew for the ITV drama Doc Martin, filmed a mile down the road at Port Isaac.

Yesterday brought a flurry of renewed interest when the two-day-old daughter of Samantha and David Cameron was named after the parish.

The couple's latest addition, Florence Rose Endellion Cameron, surprised them by arriving just over two weeks early on Tuesday lunchtime, while they were holidaying in Cornwall. She was delivered by Caesarean section, as with Mrs Cameron's other children.

The Camerons were staying just a few miles from the village, and the Prime Minister declared on the steps of the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro that they would consider giving their baby daughter a Cornish middle name.

Florence Rose shares "Endellion" with just five adults in Britain.

The name stems from St Endelienta, a sixth-century daughter of a Welsh king. After travelling down to Cornwall, Endelienta was credited with spreading the gospel among the locals and consequently became a Celtic saint. She is said to have lived solely off the milk of a single cow.

Like Florence Rose, St Endelienta also had some powerful relatives to call on when she found herself in a spot of bother.

When her cow strayed and was killed by the Lord of Trentinney, she sent for her godfather, the legendary King Arthur, who avenged her by murdering the troublesome Trentinney.

The Camerons' decision to give their daughter the forename of Florence immediately led to predictions that new parents across Britain would be inspired to do the same. According to the most recent statistics, Florence is currently only the 94th most popular girl's name, given to 608 babies born in 2008. That could soon change.