IT is a name that conjures up a cosy, cuddly picture of cuteness – and it is undoubtedly cool for cats.

But whether it is a name befitting a 38-year-old man from Southampton is another matter.

For, on a whim, store worker Edward Kittens decided to man up for a good cause and ditch his first name forever – for the more feline “Fluffie Wuffy”.

Daily Echo:

Explaining the bizarre namechange to the Daily Echo, Fluffie Wuffy Kittens said: “It just rolled off the tongue nicely and if you have a silly name anyway, Fluffie Wuffy was the way to go.”

The catalyst for his daring decision came after a running joke with colleagues at IKEA in Southampton about legally swapping his name to Fluffie Wuffy.

He pledged to change it if his colleagues raised £150 for the charity Save the Children, which they did in just two days.

Following that, he changed his name forever and decided to keep raising cash.

Fluffie revealed that while he is fond of cats, he is actually allergic to their fur and will not be getting one “unless they are genetically modified”.

Daily Echo:

He explained how he originally changed his surname from Sheen Tung Mo to Kittens back in 2005 as a satirical jibe at the macho world he grew up in.

“I was putting a lot of pressure on myself and I did not want to be that way,” he said.

“I could almost say some of the logic of calling myself Mr Kittens is that you can’t be that hard man like Vinnie Jones.

“It is the antithesis of being a ‘macho man’.

“The choice of the name Kittens was also related to realigning my attitude to the variety of people in this world, including myself, and the need for people to be free to be who they are without judgement.”

So far the reaction from colleagues and friends has been mixed. “It ranges from people saying I am little bit mad to completely barking mad, but it’s all 100 per cent positive and they have all been donating money to the cause,” he said.

He has no plans whatsoever to change his name back to Edward and can now apply for all his official documents such as passports to be changed to his new name.

Fluffie said: “As people have paid good money to call myself Fluffie Wuffy, I will have to refer to myself as Fluffie and if anyone calls me Fluffie I will have to respond.

“I will only consider changing my name back if it causes me significant problems in the future. I think to change it back it would be a big pain.”

Colleague Sarah Baker said: “I think it’s really brave of him to put others before his own name.”

Fellow store worker Dee Wray added: “We’ve all had a giggle and a smile and he has lifted our spirits.”

If you would like to donate to Fluffie Wuffy Kitten’s cause, log on to his fundraising website at justgiving.com/FluffieWuffyKittens.