Successful: Beau Jessup, 16, from Edge, Gloucestershire, has so far suggested names for 221,000 Chinese babies in six months

A 16-year-old British schoolgirl has earned £48,000 giving Chinese babies English names, after hearing about children called Gandalf and Cinderella.

Beau Jessup from Edge, Gloucestershire, has so far suggested names for 221,000 Chinese babies in six months and her unusual business is booming.

She set up SpecialName.cn after spending time in China where she was asked repeatedly to suggest an English name by friends expecting their first child.

All Chinese babies are given a traditional Chinese name at birth, which is written in Chinese characters and used for all government documents.

But there has been a growing demand in the last 20 years to adopt an additional English name that can be read, pronounced and printed in English.

This would be for use on email and for study and business in the West, but these names were chosen at school by an English teacher or even by pupils.

Entrepreneur: Beau set up SpecialName.cn after spending time in China where she was asked repeatedly to suggest an English name by friends expecting their first child

 Cheltenham Ladies College pupil Beau said: ‘When I went to China I kept being asked to name babies for my parents' friends.

‘They explained an English name is vital because you can't use a Chinese name on email or a university application to the UK. Your English name stays with you for life.

‘But I also heard lots of examples where people had chosen culturally inappropriate English names they'd heard from films or read online.

‘It made me realise there was an opportunity to help Chinese people get it right from the start.’

To solve the problem Beau developed Specialname to suggest culturally appropriate English names to prospective parents based on their ideals and aspirations for their child.

SpecialName: The website invites parents to select from a list of 12 personality traits including sensitive, honest and confident, to best describe their aspirations for their baby

It reflects the Chinese tradition for creating unique names for their children.

The website invites parents to select from a list of 12 personality traits including sensitive, honest and confident, to best describe their aspirations for their baby.

The site then analyses the choices and suggests a shortlist of three culturally-appropriate names.

The shortlist is presented along with their meaning and a famous namesake such as Grace Kelly or Catherine Middleton.

The site then shares the shortlist of suggested names with friends and family via messaging giant We-Chat - China's equivalent to WhatsApp with more than 600million users - inviting help in making the final choice.

The naming service costs the equivalent of 60p for three names and takes just over three minutes from start to finish.

English identities: All Chinese babies are given a traditional Chinese name at birth (Pictured: A file image of a mother having given birth in Beijing in 2008)

After making their choice, users are sent a naming certificate to keep. Parents are also encouraged to post their baby’s picture on the website.

The site has grown, now averaging 27,000 visitors and earning £16,000 in sales per month. More than 17million babies are born every year in China.

China remains the world's largest population, with over 1.3billion people and the lifting of the One Child policy in 2015 means parents are now able to ensure two babies have culturally appropriate names.

Beau says she is proud to play a part in so many happy occasions and plans to use the money she has earned so far from the site to help pay for her university fees.

She added: ‘There are babies being born every day and they all need a Special Name. I like the idea of providing a service that enhances such a happy occasion.

‘I have a target to reach which will allow me to pay for my university fees and writing the text for the site was really good practice for my Mandarin GCSE.

‘I spend two hours a day talking to my customers asking how I can make the service better and about an hour making improvements.

‘Since parents love sharing photos of their babies, I have recently added a gallery, so I'm gradually building a SpecialName community.’