Couple Names Baby After Web Site

Aug. 16 -- As part of an Internet publicity stunt, one Kansas couple has won $5,000 — for naming their baby after a Web site.

The Internet Underground Music Archive (IUMA) an online music site, has been offering $5,000 or free music to families who name their newborn baby “IUMA.”

The offer has triggered a tech-stock baby boom: at least four couples have entered, including one in Germany, and one tot has already been named a winner.

The RedwoodCity, Calif., company will give prizes to up to 10 babies namedIuma.

Jessica and Travis Thornhill of Hutchinson Kan., are the first couple to net $5,000 — by naming their 8-pound, 8-ounce baby Iuma Dylan-Lucas.

Travis plays bass for a band that promotes itself on the Website.

‘A Cool Story’

“My wife liked the idea because the child’s grandma said thisbaby would bring prosperity, and this contest could be what she wastalking about,” he said. “Plus, the kid will have a cool storywhen he grows up.”

Travis said he plans to put half of his winnings away for hischildren’s future (Iuma is their second son) and will use the otherhalf to pay off bills as he and his wife look to buy a home. “Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys have put our children in peril,” IUMA General Manager Antony Brydon said in a press release. “But we can save our children before their tastes are soured by bubblegum culture. “By the time they reach the age of 7 or 8, it’s too late. But a baby named ‘IUMA’ will grow up in a loving home filled to the brim with the best new music on the planet.”

The company’s main goal is to obtain name recognition.

“We’re hoping that his name will one day be synonymous withother odd-named rockstars, like Ringo Starr,” said IUMA’s CorkyGainsford.

The company said there are three other entries into thecontest, but their names had not yet been confirmed. According to its Web site, the couples are from New York, Carvers, Nev., and Darmstadt, Germany.