What's up with celebrities giving their children totally bizarre names?
Are they on seriously hard prescription drugs when they come up with them?
For example: Bruce Willis's kids names are Rumer Willis, Scout Larue, Tallulah Belle.
One of Julia Robert's twins name is Phinnaeus Walter.
HUH!?
Why do you think this trend runs in celebrity circles?
And I don't think it's "because they can" either.
You don't see regular folk giving their kids weird names like that.
What's the real reason for this?
It's gotta be the drugs...
Can you think of any other celebrities who gave their kids odd names?
Post Edited (01-01-05 17:21)
Honestly I don't mind people who give their kid "old" names - ruby , tallulah - i mean when i look at my family history i had people named America, Napoleon and Delphia. It's a neat way to keep the past alive.
But not as weird as courtney cox naming her kid Cocoa.
wasn't that the talking monkey? I think it's celebrities' way of trying to stand out from the crowd and get attention, get noticed, that somehow deeming their child with an unusual name marks them as "special" - i guess since most of those kids probably go to school with other kids named Apple, toejam and Oreo they probably don't think much of it. It's when you start naming your child things that are associated with inanimate objects. I think there was a period in the 60's when people were doing that. Moon Unit and Rainbow. Clearly dooming these children of any hope of a social life
Susan wrote:
> Honestly I don't mind people who give their kid "old" names -
> ruby , tallulah - i mean when i look at my family history i had
> people named America, Napoleon and Delphia. It's a neat way to
> keep the past alive.
It's a neat way to keep therapists employed too ( :
>Can you think of any other celebrities who gave their kids odd names?
Umm...
Dweezil & Moon Unit Zappa
Gillian Anderson named her daughter Piper-Maru.
And of course you have the Phoenix family; River, Rain, Summer, Liberty and Joaquin (pronounced Wok-Keem).
And Cher (weird name) naming her daughter "Chastity" after her own movie of the same name
What about Jefferson Airplane lead singer Grace Slick who named her child 'god' with a small 'g'.
"she's the apple of her father's eye"
haha, i loved that one.
I think it's celebrities' way of trying to stand out from the crowd and get attention, get noticed, that somehow deeming their child with an unusual name marks them as "special"
- correct and absolutely the main reason why the "haves"/the rich do that!
A lot of rich (the real rich, the true upper class) tend to name their kids very conservative names, like the boys get so-and-so, the Third, etc.
Menard wrote:
>
> It's a neat way to keep therapists employed too ( :
>
Well a child can always say "It was a family name, I was named from my great great...etc". It's not the same as "Why did your mother name you after raw chocolate?" I think giving kids foriegn names is fine too, give them some pretty sounding name that maybe in that native language means Apple - but to name them Apple in english forever marks them, kids make fun of them because they can easily associate that name with an inanimate object. If people want to give really cool and weird names, do it on your pets.
I don't mind the old names either. Or give them an unusual name and a normal name, and they can go by whichever they prefer. For a while, I was really liking Archimedes as a middle name for a future son. That would rock. Couldn't convince my wife though.
A little creativity is good when most people are like lemmings in the way they choose names. One thing my wife and I do agree on is that we aren't using any name that half the kids in the class will have.
That said, Apple has to be the stupidest name I've heard in a while. It's not even an interesting fruit. And it sure won't sound right when the kid grows up - unless she's an air-headed stripper.
Would have mentioned the Zappa kids, but somebody beat me to it. I don't know, but Frank Zappa might have been cool enough to pull it off. It seemed less pretentious in his case.
Oh, and we can't forget Zowie Bowie.
Jermaine Jackson named his son "Jermajesty". Come on.
I do not know the couple's name, but their was a couple in our state who named their kids Lemonjello and Orangejello after their two favorite flavors of Jello.
You beat me to this one....you have to point out, too, that it is often pronounced as
lemonjello: la MON jullo
orangejello: or ON jullo
so that if you only heard it, you might not even notice the root.
Were they hoping the good folks at Jello would notice, and maybe cover some of their baby costs?
AndyC wrote:
> Were they hoping the good folks at Jello would notice, and
> maybe cover some of their baby costs?
>
I'd be more concerned with therapy costs.
I have heard the Lemonjello and Oranjello story many times over the years, and I have yet to actually met anyone who met these hundreds of unfortunate kids first hand. Meanwhile, I story I have seen first hand...
My sister in law was discussing names for their (potential) child, and has hit upon the name "Ryder". However she does not see how that will mix with their last name...
"Cox".
My personal view (from a traumatic childhood at school) is that kids are cruel enough with making fun of other kids without the parents GIVING them ammunition in the form of a silly name. If one must give a crazy first name, give the child a middle name as an escape.
Ed
Although I have heard the story and been told that they were born in a hospital in Louisville, KY, I have never had a particular desire to check it out. I would give just as much credence to the possibility that it is urban myth.
I agree with you on the status as a potential urban legend. I went to school with a kid named O.K. Doak, so I'd believe anything about parent's naming habits.
-Ed
Oh my god thats a myth?? I heard that one from my mom years ago. She was a nurse so I figured it was a real thing that happened at the hospital. "she looked at the menu and saw orange jello and lemon jello so she named her kids ........"
There's another one I didnt know was a myth until years later. Hotdog girl. She went to everybody's school, but nobody actually met her. I was telling some other kid about it way back and he's like, "yeah that girl went to my school too, She went to everybodies school you idiot!"
I have met Simon Said. I am not kidding.
The story I have heard about the Jellos also came from a hospital worker. I do not know if it is a myth. By the same token, I do not know if it is true.
I did know a guy years ago named Richard Head. That one probably has urban legend status as well, but I did know this guy. Knew the whole family (parents were very rich), and probably thought "how dare anyone make fun of MY kid."
The guy that last told me about the Jellos was a teacher.
-Ed
This thread reminds me of a joke;
A woman goes into labor and passes out. Her brother rushes her to the hospital. She comes to several hours later and the nurse explains that she had twins and since they needed names to put on the birth certificates, her brother named them. "Oh no, this can't be good, he's an idiot!" she thinks, then asks the nurse what names he chose. The nurse says that he named the girl "Denise". That's not too bad she thinks so she asks "What did he name the boy?" The nurse replies "Da'Nephew"...
Okay, my wife and I are expecting our second child, and names have been on our minds. She brought home a "Parents" magazine the other day with an article titled "The Best Celebrity Names." There are some doozies. There are also some from 'regular folk.' There are also 'suggestions' from various categories. Here are a few:
Someone earlier in the thread mentioned Gwyneth Paltrow and their child Apple. Here it says they named the kid that because "apples are so sweet and they're wholesome and biblical...' Uh? Wasn't the apple a key component in man's fall from grace? What does this say about you? "You're a new age hippie" and that quote is directly from the article.
Sweet hippy names like this form the first category. Here are some suggestions from that category: Banjo, Kenzo, Kiwi, Starbright, Strawberry. Uh-huh.
On the next page is an anecdote by a lady who named her daughter Estee (accent on that middle e), cuz she was wearing that perfume when she first met her hubby; he said he liked the way she smelled, and viola - the kid's name was set! Oh man.
From Linda Rosenkrantz, Baby Naming Expert (there's an expert on this??), we get the "Cool Names for 2005." From this list, for girls: Bella, Siena; for boys: Phineas (a nod to Julia Roberts, I guess), Roman and Hudson. Rosenkrantz apparently things names that combine "popular elements: geographical name, a surname and a star baby name" are cool. Sorry, there, Ms. K, I don't think I need to name my child after a city, and I don't particularly want to give my kid a last name for a first name. Okay, so I'm starting to think this baby naming expert title is self-appointed.
A lady is mentioned who named her kid Axel after Axl Rose; another describes naming their child Aston because her husband loves cars (especially, you guessed it, that Aston Martin).
From the City/Country Names category, we have Brooklyn, London, Dubai (??-good grief), Oslo, Cairo (sounds too much like Charo), Ireland and again Siena. Man, shoot me if I name my kid Brooklyn, Dubai or Cairo. Please.
Congrats ulthar, that's good news.
If it's a boy, there should at least be a MIDDLE name nod to "Ulthar".
We like to crack the back of the rich and famous, but what about the little people.
I wonder how many children in Southwest Missouri in the last year have been named Maranatha (sp?).
Also, sick of boys with names like old TV Westerns or pickup trucks. Maverick, Cheyene, Shiloh, Colt, Cimmaron and Silvarado.
ulthar wrote:
> and I don't
> particularly want to give my kid a last name for a first name.
>
Okay, I know it is dumb to respond to your own post, but I just realized something! My daughter's name is Hunter, which I guess is a last name, too.
There is a pizza parlor near my house, they always have the damnest names on their birthday board, every one is misspelled. Things like:
Shannon Doa
Khody
Tylar
Chrystal
I want to stop and ask if their sign person can't spell or if these really are the names
My wife and I joke we'll name our first child "Bahwb" just to screw with teachers and such. I also think "Chlamidiya" is pretty,
-
Ed
Peeple jist caned spiel inymoor. Ah theenk ets ay dorn shaim.
My mom sent me our ancestral chart and I found some strange names. How about Jerubabel and Experience and Mehejable. Jerubabel and Experience were married to each other. On my step-fathers side I found a Philemon and Obedience and they were married also.
I heard that Meeno Peluce is Soleil Moon Fries brother.
Yep! Also Dawn Lyn from My Three Sons is the sister of Leif Garrett who...um...did something back in the 70s...I know all the girls liked him.
I forgot to mention that Meeno Peluce ate my balls.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~asmithee/mpballs.html