PRE-SEASON haircuts and the effects of weeks in the gym are usually the most notable changes footballers go through in the summer months.

For Bulldog Brian Lake (formerly Harris), the alteration was less cosmetic and more sentimental, with the defender opting to change his surname in honour of his new son Cohen.

“I've actually had a couple of people ask me if I got married,” Lake laughed, when asked how people have reacted to the change.

“I keep saying, ‘Well no, if I'd gotten married, I probably would have kept my surname.’ But there have been a few people change their first name, and not many change their last. For me, there was just no time like the present.”

The 26-year-old explained how the decision was influenced by his desire for Cohen to carry on his father's surname. “Harris was a maiden name for my mum before she got married, and my parents got married when I was going to high school," he said.

"I'd already started playing football and I was going to a new school, and I didn't want to be a target of jokes, so I picked Harris even though my mum had changed her name to Lake.

“Being the only child to my old man, I didn't want the legacy of his name to stop with me. Having the little fella was a reason to change. It was finalised on the 20th of December and he was born on the 23rd, so it was perfect timing."

Lake, who said he considered the change for "about three months" before Cohen was born, said his household now contains four people with three different surnames. "It's pretty funny in our family at the moment. You've got me and Cohen as Lake, [partner] Shannon as O'Malley, and my stepson Bailey has his father's last name, so that's another different one," he said.

“There's three names in the family at the moment. You look on our Medicare card and there are three different surnames."

The name change has also encouraged his teammates to invent clever nicknames to replace his former pseudonym of "Harro".

"I'm getting 'Lakesy' a bit, and sometimes 'Swan'," he said. "It's hard getting used to it sometimes, because some of the match day boards have Lake and some have Harris on them.

“Sometimes when they say ‘Lake’, I have to think about it. Kids have been giving me footy cards to sign with Harris on them, and I've had to change my signature too, so that's been a bit strange. I'm about to change my driver's licence too; there's so much you need to change.

"It's been easy picking up a new signature though; it's just B. Lake, which is like Blake, so nice and short."

Cohen’s pre-Christmas arrival meant Lake didn't have much sleep over the Bulldogs' down time. However, it saw the defender perfect a new skill – his late-night bottle-preparation ability.

“In the first couple of weeks I was very anal about any noises he was making and I was constantly checking him," he said. “He's starting to settle down now; he's eight weeks old and he's having his injections soon so I'm not looking forward to that.

"He's going well, and Shannon has done a great job. With training, it's hard with early morning sessions, but I try and do some of the night feeds. I get up and get the bottle ready most times, so I help and then go back to sleep straight away."

The Bulldogs are certainly doing their bit to ensure the future of the club, with a definite baby boom among the players' ranks.

"We can all go down and collect our rebates together. Bob Murphy had one, and Peter Street … Adam Cooney is having one midyear as well," Lake said. "At least that means Whitten Oval's new childcare centre is going to get a few kids.”