Indians bearing the surname Shital prefer to be known as Sheet while Arabic names such as Karim and Muhammad are being changed to Kevin and Michael, according to a report in The Sunday Times.

The trend is part of a boom in name changing, fuelled by websites that allow people legally to rename themselves by deed poll within a few hours, usually for about 30 pounds.

About 70,000 people are expected to change their name using either the UK Deed Poll Service or the Name Change Company this year, two of the most popular services in Britain, the report said. In 2001, the number of such people was fewer than 20,000.

The paper said Chinese people have anglicised their names by adding prefixes such as John, Jason and Sue. In one instance, a refugee from Uzbekistan called Avlar Jon Akherov became Adrian Barry Roberts. In another case, a young Polish woman with an 18-letter surname opted for the brevity of one of Britain's most common names - Hall.