Celebrity Baby Names: What's In A Name?
What is it with celebrities and what they name their babies?
Decades ago we had Frank Zappa, who named two of his kids Moon
Unit and Dweezil - but we sort of expect that from a rock star,
don't we? To top it off, he named his other two kids Ahmet
Emuukha Rodan and Diva - so at least in that family they all
have rather unique names.
I admit that I thought it was pretty cool when Demi and Bruce
named one of their daughters Scout, in honor of the young
heroine from "To Kill A Mockingbird" - but then they went and
named the other two Rumor and Tallulah Belle. Not sure why they
did that - thankfully they seem like nice, normal kids.
No need to discuss what Michael Jackson named his children -
that's the least of his, or their worries, frankly.
I had a cat named Coco when I was a child, and now David and
Courtney Cox Arquette have a daughter named Coco. And how about
Apple for a name? Seriously, why would an Academy Award winning
actress name her child Apple? Will Gwenyth name the one she's
expecting this spring Banana? Or maybe go with something from
the vegetable family?
Don't get me wrong - I think trying to find a unique name for
your child is wonderful. There are more than enough Bob's in the
world right now (my husband being one of them). But aren't there
better ways of choosing a name for your baby than drawing a name
out of a hat or trying to recall what you ate just before
conception? And isn't life already going to be hard enough for
these celebrity kids without being saddled with bizarre names?
Not all celebrities have given their offspring strange names.
Thankfully, Britney Spears named her son Sean, and Kate Winslet
chose the simple, but strong, Joe for her son. And there are
lots of celebrity sons named Jack and Henry out there, along
with a few Grace and Samantha's, so not all is lost.
But what I wonder is if celebrities know there are "Baby Naming"
books out there to help them. Years ago we got one of those
books when we considered starting a family. With the last name
Ryder, of course we played around with some fun names - like
Ezekiel Zechariah - E.Z. Ryder. Or Paperback. Maybe Horseback.
But would we have actually done that? Of course not. Well, at
least not Paperback or Horseback. Then, when we didn't have
children, we used the book to name our pets. We may be the only
people in the world with a Siamese Cat named Dugan - and
actually know what it means! And we used the book to offer
"helpful" suggestions to family and friends.
These books are great - not only do you get thousands of
possible names, you also get their heritage and meaning. So if
any of you know Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, I have a
suggestion for the perfect baby shower gift for them - a baby
naming book. Or who knows what those two might come up with for
a name. I shudder even thinking about it.