(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Toni Braxton chose her children's names carefully, because she wanted them to have strong identities.

The singer has two sons nine-year-old Denim and Diesel, eight with her husband Keri Lewis. Toni was keen for her kids to stand out from the crowd so she selected names which would help them feel confident.

"I think names can define you," she told the American edition of OK! magazine. "I think it's important that kids have their own identity, and I think this is a decade of having freedom.

"My son Denim, it was supposed to be spelled D-e-n-h-a-m, like Oldham, but when we were in the hospital, in Atlanta, the nurse said, How's little baby Den-ham?' So we started spelling it like the jean. Some people say it's French, and some people say it's English. Diesel my husband is half German, so Diesel is after, what is it, Rudolph Diesel, who did the Diesel engine? Diesel is a German name."

The 44-year-old star also revealed she has a special way of cheering her sons up when they are ill. Toni gives the boys tasty ice treats which always help to make them feel better.

"I teach my sons that popsicles are our friend," she explained. "Every time they have a cold or they're feeling sick, I tell them they have to have a popsicle. What I've done is if they have a fever, it lowers their fever. Whenever they get sick, they're like, Mom, I need a popsicle.' So it's a good thing." (C) Cover Media