Licensed to kill with the least thrilling of names

Fleming once described his stories as "fairy tales for grown-ups" - which explains their enduring appeal; it is estimated that a quarter of the world's population has seen a Bond movie. But 007's success also owes much to the simplicity of his name. It is at once timeless and contemporary. "I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find," Fleming explained in a later interview. "James Bond was much better than something more interesting, like Peregrine Carruthers. Exotic things would happen to and around him, but he would be a neutral figure."

There are several theories as to the origin of the name. The most credible (and one publicly affirmed by the author) is that Fleming borrowed the name from a book on his shelf, Field Guide to Birds of the West Indies by James Bond. It was a monosyllabic masterstroke: muted but memorable.

Bond was, in Fleming's own words, a "cardboard booby" and, it has to be said, he was a bit of a dullard. He doesn't read, he doesn't listen to music and he has no sense of humour, telling one joke in 14 books. The dreadful puns came later in the films.

But his name has become emblematic of all those essential virtues: fortitude, courage, loyalty, and patriotism. In other words, keeping the British end up. The first James Bond film did not feature Sean Connery, but an American actor named Barry Nelson who answered to the name "Jimmy Bond". No wonder it bombed at the box office. Fleming had to wait a few more years before his hero became a global franchise.

Many of Fleming's characters were based on real people. Hugo Drax,the villain in Moonraker, was named after Admiral Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, an old friend of Fleming's. Ernst Stavro Blofeld was probably named after another Old Etonian, Tom Blofeld, whose son Henry Blofeld is the much-loved BBC cricket commentator. Francisco "Pistols" Scaramanga, the triple-nippled gunman in The Man with the Golden Gun, was named after yet another school contemporary.

Juliet said a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But is that necessarily true of James Bond? The name's Carruthers. Peregrine Carruthers. It doesn't have quite the same ring, does it? The name's Shakespeare. Sebastian Shakespeare. No, you can count me out as well.