England and Liverpool footballer Steven Gerrard and his wife Alex today announced the birth of their third daughter, Lourdes.

The little girl was born at 4pm and weighed 7lb 15oz, the midfielder’s spokesman said.

Gerrard was present at the birth and “both mum and baby are doing well”, he said.

The couple already have two daughters, Lilly-Ella, seven, and five-year-old Lexie.

And they are not the first celebrity parents to call their child Lourdes: Madonna gave the same name to her first-born in 1996.

Lourdes is also the name of the French town to which millions of Catholic pilgrims travel every year and where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to a poor 14-year-old girl called Bernadette Soubiroux in 1858.

Gerrard’s spokesman said: “Steven and Alex would like to thank the media for respecting the privacy of their family at this time.”