Would You Name Your Baby This?

A smash-hit mobile video game sweeping China has found its youngest fan to date in a 1-month-old girl in the interior city of Xi’an.

But this particular baby girl probably hasn’t learned how to play “Honour of Kings” just yet. Instead, she has formally become one of the first babies in China to be named after the popular game’s original, Mandarin title, “Wangzhe Rongyao,” according to a report in the Xi’an-based China Business View website.

News of the name ignited the usual flurry of discussion on the internet, with some gamers supporting the choice while others questioning giving the girl a label that already sounds strange and could quickly become outdated when the game’s popularity inevitably fades.

Since its launch by online gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd., “Honour of Kings” has become a massive success and social phenomenon by combining team play with mobile gaming. The title has been a huge moneymaker for Tencent, bringing in $1 billion in revenue last year alone. It now has about 200 million active users, about a quarter of those who play daily.

But the game has also garnered complaints from parents about addiction, prompting Tencent to limit minors to two hours or less of play per day. It has also drawn criticism from influential sources — including the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party — over its addictive nature.

The baby girl’s father is clearly a big fan, coming from an information technology background, according to the China Business View report, which managed to verify that the document registering the baby’s name with a local public security bureau on Aug. 7 was authentic. The bureau said it agreed to register the name because it didn’t violate any Chinese laws. The paper also tracked down the girl’s family in Xi’an.

The mother said they were already calling the girl by her nickname, “Rongyao” (Honour), and added that the baby’s two grandmothers didn’t oppose the choice.

“Everything in our home is decided by my husband,” she said. “I don’t have any objections.”

Contact reporter Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)