12 APRIL 1997, Page 28

Rara Avis

Sir: Although he was born in 1918 of an American mother, Alastair Forbes may be unaware that American daughters are often given the same name as their mother. Thus the wife and daughter of the eminent American diplomat, Charles E. Bohlen, bore the same name, not 'similar' names as Forbes writes (Letters, 22 March). And that name was not Avice, nor was it Alice, as he variously wrote. To avoid further embar- rassment, the name was, and is, Avis.

Edgar Beige!

2601 Woodley Place, Washington DC, USA