Last night’s episode of EastEnders saw Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) and Peter Beale (Thomas Law) welcome a new addition to their little family – baby Jimmy Beale.
Going into labour with only her future mother-in-law for company, Lauren was rushed into hospital by a surprisingly supportive Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins).
As delivery of the baby got underway, Lauren panicked about the infant’s well-being – stressed that something might be about to go horrifically wrong as a result of her painkiller use while pregnant.
Thankfully, Lauren’s fears came to naught, and a healthy baby boy was born just as Peter arrived at the hospital.
And, as the proud parents cradled their newborn, they shared his name – Jimmy, after her grandfather, Jim Branning (John Bardon).
A good, strong name with ties to EastEnders history… however, not all viewers were as enamored.
Writing on X as last night’s scenes aired, fans shared their thoughts on the new addition’s name.
‘JIMMY. F***ing Jimmy. Stop naming the babies after other characters,’ wrote ElloTeenah. ‘First Charli, now Jimmy and how long ago we had Jordan. Arthur is named after his grandad. It’s so f***ing unoriginal.’
‘Jimmy???? I know its in homage to jim but jimmy?!’ said allyallons.
Little Jimmy follows a grand tradition of Walford residents naming their children after legacy characters – Charli Slater, named for Charlie Slater (Derek Martin), Arthur Fowler, as per Bill Treacher’s soap icon, and Ricky Branning (Frankie Day).
Previous offspring bearing famous names have also included Dotty Cotton,Louise Mitchell (named for Lou Beale), Tiffany Butcher and the late Denny Rickman.
Jimmy isn’t even the first Branning baby to pay homage to the late Jim – with Jack naming his son with Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack) James, after his own father.
Meanwhile, others commented how outdated the name Jimmy seemed in the year 2025.
‘What kind of name is Jimmy 😂 Eastenders writers really missed a trick. They should have let Lauren and Peter have a girl and then name her after Lucy,’ wrote Little Monteith.
‘Jimmy? In 2025…. Lovely Lauren & Peter,’ said Riasose.
‘Jimmy?!?! I’m sorry but the Lauren Branning I know would NEVER name her kid Jimmy IMO,’ commented tackymoon98.
Jimmy, of course, being the name of Walford legend Jim Branning, husband to Dot Cotton (June Brown) and father of Jack (Scott Maslen), Max (Jake Wood), Derek (portrayed by Terrence Beesley and Jamie Foreman), Suzy (Maggie O’Neill), Carol Jackson (Lindsey Coulson) and April (Debbie Arnold).
Jim departed the soap in 2011 after star John Bardon suffered a series of strokes, and died off-screen in 2015 – one year after the death of the actor.
He is survived in modern-day Walford by son Jack and granddaughter Lauren, with the rest of his brood spread far and wide or (in the case of poor Derek) dead.
The name Jimmy holds more meaning behind the scenes of the soap too – being a likely tribute to recently departed star James Bye, who played Martin Fowler for over ten years.
James left the soap earlier this year as Martin was killed off during the soap’s 40th anniversary festivities – dying in the aftermath of an explosion at The Queen Vic.
Earlier this month, James reunited with co-star Lacey Turner, who plays Stacey Slater on the soap,paying tribute with a sweet video on Instagram.
‘Always great to spend some time with my old mucker, so much love for you Lacey,’ he captioned the post.
