Are you 4Real? No, I'm Superman

A couple has got over the disappointment of having their choice of 4Real as the name for their baby son turned down by calling him Superman instead.

Pat and Sheena Wheaton were told by the government registry in New Zealand they could not register the name because it included a digit.

Mr Wheaton said he came up with the unlikely moniker after seeing the baby for the first time in an ultrasound scan and realising their baby was "for real".

However, the family has refused to let the law or good taste get in the way of their choice, insisting they will continue to refer to their two-month-old son as 4Real.

In the meantime they plan to officially name him Superman.

"No matter what, its going to stay 4Real," Mr Wheaton told the New Zealand Herald newspaper, "I'm certainly not a quitter".

He said criticism of the couple posted on the internet regarding their choice of name had been difficult to handle.

"I did go online and Google some of the stories and as tough as I am, it does get to you, but there's no point getting upset," he said.

"It could be a 10-year-old school girl making those comments."

A spokesman for the Department of Internal Affairs, which operates the registry, told the newspaper discussions with the Wheatons about their son's name were continuing.