Councilman offers to name his twins for Google

Everyone has a story of how they got their name. A beloved great uncle, a heroine of a British romance novel or maybe the result of a high-stakes game of rock, paper, scissors.

Bonner Gaylord's children may end up with a tale to top most others.

Gaylord, the North Hills general manager who joined Raleigh's City Council in December, has offered Google the naming rights of the twins that he and his wife, Ashley, are expecting.

Gaylord is trying to increase Raleigh's chances after the California company announced in February that it would rewire an entire community, free, with Internet service more than 100 times faster than what most people experience.

In a 10-minute video plea to Google in which other city and educational leaders brag at length about Raleigh's measurable attributes -- being named the most wired city by Forbes, home to five colleges and universities, one of the fastest-growing areas in the country -- Gaylord offers up a deal to Google executives.

"If Google Fiber commits to Raleigh, I'll commit to you that I will name those children Sergey and Larry ... if it's two boys," Gaylord says. That's a nod to Google's co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Gaylord hadn't run the idea past Ashley, his wife, when he made the video for the city.

"Have I asked my wife, you may ask me?," Gaylord said on the video. "No, I have not."

But Ashley was willing to go along with it, and finds it hysterical, her husband reports. The couple is already parents to a girl, 2-year-old Gardner Hazel.

Gaylord said he came up with the schtick after he shelved his plans to write a speech to make Raleigh's case to Google.

"I basically ran out of time and realized that we needed to do something significant and something that would get their attention," he said.

The couple are expecting the twins in October, so Gaylord figures he has a one in four chance of having to make good on his promise if they end up having twin boys. And then Google would also have to agree to come to Raleigh.

If all those scenarios align, Larry and Sergey Gaylord will have quite the story to offer about how they got their names.

Want to see for yourself? Check out the video here, Gaylord lays out his offer at 3:16.