Luke Littler given new nickname by Wayne Mardle with three added benefits for darts star

Luke Littler has been given the new nickname ‘The Duke’ by darts icon Wayne Mardle. Littler has gone by ‘The Nuke’ for several years, but Mardle believes a new title would bring three key benefits.

Littler has enjoyed an excellent first full season in professional darts. The 17-year-old won the Premier League, was the runner-up in the World Championship, and has seen his popularity soar over the last six months.

Mardle believes the teenager’s success is deserving of a rebrand. He wants Littler to go by the nickname ‘The Duke’, believing it would give the darts star “authority, importance and gravitas”.

Tagging Littler in a post on social media platform X on Monday morning, Mardle wrote: “Pal. I’ve been thinking. This may have already been discussed, apologies if so. Anyway… I think you should use the nickname ‘The Duke’. Luke The Duke Littler.”

The 51-year-old continued: “It carries authority, importance, gravitas. There you go. No charge. See you soon.”

Littler has previously revealed that his current nickname was a joint idea between him and his father. They were both sat in a pub while trying to come up with a moniker and settled on ‘The Nuke’ due to it rhyming with his forename.

"We were sitting in a pub, me and my father. I was about 13 or 14 years old,” Littler told the Metro.

“I didn't have a nickname and it just went well with my real name. We sat down and thought: Luke, Luke, Luke, and then Luke 'The Nuke' came to mind."

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According to a story published by The Sun in March, Littler has applied to trademark ‘The Nuke’ so he can use it for a brand of perfume and other merchandise. It is claimed that an application was made to the Intellectual Property Office on his behalf.

Littler reportedly wants to protect personalised footwear, T-shirts, short-sleeve shirts, pyjamas and slippers. Other merchandise, such as dart boards, arrow wallets and darts-related games, could also be in the pipeline.

Experts believe that Littler could be set to make a fortune if he continues to remain one of the best darts players for the next couple of decades.

However, the Warrington-born talent will not compete at the upcoming World Cup of Darts. Only the top two English players in the Order of Merit are picked, with Littler 25th in the rankings.