Elton John explains son's name

Sir Elton John named his new son after a rescue dog.

The 'Rocket Man' singer and his husband, David Furnish, welcomed their second boy, Elijah Joseph Daniel, through a surrogate mother on January 11, and each of his names has a different significance.

Elton explained: ''I have always liked names that have resonated over hundreds of years. When we were discussing the name of our second child, we liked the sound of Zachary and Elijah together, there is a nice rhythm to the two names.

''We chose the name Joseph because we liked it, and it also reminds us of a much-loved rescue dog who lived with us for many years.''

David explained Elijah's second middle name is after one of Elton's singles from 1973, as with Zachary, who was born in December 2010.

He added to Britain's HELLO! magazine: ''One of Zachary's middle names, Levon, is the title of an Elton John song. We chose it because there is a line in the song 'He was born on Christmas Day' - and of course Zachary was born on December 25, 2010.

''So we also wanted to give Elijah one of Elton's songs in his name. 'Daniel' has been a significant name in Elton's career and it has always been one of my favourite songs so it was a perfect choice.''