A new father has secretly named his baby girl Sarah McCain Palin after the Republican ticket for president and vice president.

Mark Ciptak of Elizabethton put that name on the documents for the girl's birth certificate, ignoring the name Ava Grace, which he and his wife had picked earlier.

"I don't think she believes me yet," he told the Kingsport Times-News for a story to be published Tuesday. "It's going to take some more convincing."

Ciptak, a blood bank employee for the American Red Cross, said he named his third child after John McCain and Sarah Palin to "to get the word out" about the campaign.

"I took one for the cause," he said. "I can't give a lot of financial support for the (McCain/Palin) campaign. I do have a sign up in my yard, but I can do very little."

That poor child.

This isn't a political statement, I would feel the same way if he had named her "Hillary Biden Obama". This is something that child will have to bear her whole life, unless the parents have the good sense to change it quickly.

That's horrible.. why would somebody do that??? that's almost child abuse..in my book... thats like naming your son "susan" or something...ya know.. GOOD GOD... the things people will do to be famous...

Its not quite the same as child abuse. The girl is called Sarah Palin, what is so bad about that? Sounds like a girls name to me.

HE'S taking one for the cause????

more like he's giving up his child in the line of fire instead of himself!

thank God you can still legally change your name.

because he just labeled her as an ignorant, moose hunting, bible banger.. thats why!!! and for life...too... that poor, poor, child.

Yep & thats exactly what The original Sarah Palin did too!

Well i dont see it as being all that bad, i can think of much worse names to call a kid. I imagine there are probably many hundreds if not thousands of women already called Saran Palin, i dont think there lives are going to be ruined.

no only pitied... thats all...

The point is he went behind his wife's back and named his child something other than what they had chosen.This man is obviously one fry short of a happy meal.I hope she bops him over the head with a rolling pin to get his brain functioning and changes the name back to Ava.

OMG...bet it will be their last child.

yeah because he isn't gettin any boom boom anytime soon.

One parent naming a child without consulting the other is pretty disrespectful.

Sounds like the guy wanted his fifteen minutes of fame.

Not to mention he seems like a jerk going behind his wifes back.

His wife was probably in on it any way.

No matter what anyone says, it aint all that bad. Sure, he might have pissed his wife off, but thats all it is.

Amen.

It's a horrid thing to do!!