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Renault can name a new car Zoe - after a judge threw out a case brought by the parents of two girls called Zoe Renault.

The families had argued that their children could face a lifetime of mockery for sharing the name of a car.

But the judge found no evidence that it would cause the children "certain, direct and current harm".

The families' lawyer David Koubbi said they planned to appeal against the decision, reports the BBC.

"There's a line between living things and inanimate objects, and that line is defined by the first name," he said.

"We're telling Renault one very simple thing: first names are for humans."

He also argued that all of France's thousands of Zoes could be affected, with playground teasing and, as they grow older, comments in bars such as "Can I see your airbags?" or "Can I shine your bumper?"

The all-electric Renault Zoe ZE (zero emission) is set for launch in 2012. Zoe - which means "life" in Greek - was apparently chosen to underline the car's environmental credentials.

An unnamed Renault official said that the manufacturer had no plans to change the car's name.

"We're very happy with the judge's decision," the official said.

There has been a disturbing trend here of naming kids Lexus!  I have heard in on a couple of occasions, and once, to my dismay, at the beach I heard a mother call out "Lexus...Diamante...it is time to go!"  ::)

Mercedes is a very common girl's name and I'm sure at some point there is some ribbing.  Frankly though, kids will find any reason to pick on your name.  There was this boy when I was in HS named Walter and he had this overlarge head - they used to call him Waltermelon  :-\\

Mercedes is a very common girl's name and I'm sure at some point there is some ribbing.  Frankly though, kids will find any reason to pick on your name.  There was this boy when I was in HS named Walter and he had this overlarge head - they used to call him Waltermelon  :-\\
Mercedes was a brand of the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG which began to develop in 1900, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler. Although the name was not lodged as a trade name until 23 June 1902 and had to wait until 26 September to be registered legally, the brand name eventually would be applied to an automobile model built by Wilhelm Maybach to specifications by Emil Jellinek that was delivered to him on 22 December 1900. By Jellinek's contract, the new model contained a newly designed engine designated as, Daimler-Mercedes. This engine name is the first instance of the use of the name, Mercedes, by DMG. The automobile model would later be called, the Mercedes 35 hp. An Austrian diplomat based in Nice, a business man running a profitable business selling cars, and a racing enthusiast, Jellinek had been racing DMG automobiles under the pseudonym Mercédès, after his daughter, Mercédès Jellinek

Mercedes was a female name before it was a car, derivative of Mercy

So no different than naming a car Zoe, really.