What happens when you let the internet choose your baby's name?

Father-to-be Stephen McLaughlin has set up a website to allow the internet to decide his unborn daughter's name

Stephen McLaughlin has set up a website that allows users to vote for potential names for his unborn daughter (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Naming your baby can be a stressful process, but one father-to-be has taken a back seat - by asking the internet to choose his baby's name for him.

Stephen McLaughlin, a software developer from Canada, decided with his wife to allow users to help suggest names for their daughter, who is due to be born on 2 April.

He set up the website - NameMyDaughter.com - so that users could log in and vote for whichever first name or middle name they wanted his daughter to be named after, and the response has been overwhelming, with the website already attracting over 36,000 votes so far.

There are some rules, however, in anticipation for those who tend to go over the top.

McLaughlin lays down the law on the homepage, insisting no inappropriate suggestions will be allowed. He also states that there is only one vote per user allowed per day, and that he and his wife will have the final say on any name.

"Hi, My name is Stephen and much to the disbelief of my wife, I have decided to let the internet name* my daughter.

"Yeah that is an asterisk. Unfortunately internet I know better than to trust you. We will ultimately be making the final decision, Alas my daughter shall not be named WackyTaco692. Sorry guys the wife wouldn't go for a free for all.

"You can vote once for as many names as you want. Inappropriate submissions may be removed."

Predictably, the internet in all its glory has produced a bizarre range of possible names. A more conventional choice of 'Amelia' currently leads the way for the first name, while the rather more exotic 'Megatron' lies in sixth position.

There is also the option to choose the child's middle name, and with the name being less significant than their daughter's first name, one might feel that the suggestions will spiral out of control. 'Mae' is just ahead of 'All-Spark', with 'Rose' and 'Le-Dash-A' not far behind.

With under four months until the due date, the McLoughins are set for a nervy finish as the internet prepares to decide the fate of their unborn child.