Shane Rodney, NRL player for the Manly Sea Eagles, and his wife Jacquie, welcomed their first child at 4.50 am on Monday September 12 at Hawkesbury Hospital. The baby was a boy, and he weighed 2.4 kg (5 pounds 5 ounces), and was 48 cm long.
Shane and Jacquie have called their son Nash Mark; they chose the name Nash because they both liked it, as it seemed quite unusual to them. Shane was there for his son’s birth, and seems to have taken to fatherhood like a natural; Jacquie wonders if that’s because the baby is about the same size as a football.
Shane is hopeful that the Manly Sea Eagles will make it through to the grand final on September 23, and then he will leave the club to begin a three-year contract with the Harlequins, an English Super League team. The Rodney family will move to London in December, so baby Nash will spend his early years in England.
(Story and photo from The Manly Daily, September 14 2011)
Waltzing More Than Matilda 
I should say, I do know a Sheila not much older than me, but she’s from England originally, and non-white. I don’t know any Australians less than 60-odd with that name.
Haha, I was so curious to see it! Not what I was expecting, at all! 🙂
Lou’s right, it’s pretty blunt, but he’s got a strong name (Nash Rodney)!
Question for you – how popular is the baby name Sheila in Australia? I came across an article that said it’s lost popularity as a slang term, but every search for the popularity of Sheila as a name in Australia I try to do just leads me back to things about the nickname.
I would say Sheila is almost unheard of as a baby name! It’s just VERY old-fashioned, it’s a grandma name. I don’t know anyone called Sheila under the age of 60 or so.
People still use the word “sheila” but usually in a joking or deliberately ironic way. A child called Sheila would still be strongly associated with the slang term, and although it’s not particularly insulting, the teasing would get very boring I expect.
Similar-sounding Irish or faux-Irish names are much more common, such as Shaylee.
Same story over here, though of course the slang term doesn’t really factor in! (And I do, actually, have one friend aged 25 named Sheila, but her name is rare/old-fashioned. She suits it though!)
Thanks for that, needed it for my next post!
Woo England! My crazy chemistry teacher (is there any other kind?!) came from London and her surname was Nash.
Personally, I find Nash Mark to be a little blunt, but Nash Rodney ain’t all that bad.