James Corden - a boy named Kim (From Northwich Guardian)

James Corden - a boy named Kim

1:10am Tuesday 16th March 2010 in National Entertainment News © Press Association 2011

James Corden found himself on the receiving end of jokes as a schoolboy - when word got round that his middle name is Kimberly.

The 31-year-old Gavin And Stacey star said the unusual moniker has been passed down the generations, telling the latest issue of Heat magazine: "Literally every man in my family has it - it's a tradition."

He went on: "For ages I pretended it was Karl, but my sister was going out with one of my mates and told him, then he told the whole school - it wasn't great."

But the comic actor and writer learned how to deflect teasing as a youngster by making people laugh.

He said: "I realised quite early that, being this little chubby lad, I was a target for the lads in the older years.

"But I found that if you just made them laugh, they'd accept you. I probably used the same tactics then as I do now - that's the sad thing!"