Posted on 04/16/2006 11:03:18 AM PDT by mathprof
IT'S a measure of what we have come to expect from celebrities to consider that if Henry Fonda were alive and having children today, it would seem as likely for him to name his daughter, say, Hanoi, as simply to call her Jane.
It seems almost unimaginable for any 21st-century movie star to send his children out among the Hollywood elite equipped with ordinary names like Michael, Eric, Joel and Peter, as Kirk Douglas once did.
This point was driven home again last week, when Gwyneth Paltrow and her husband, Chris Martin, the frontman of the band Coldplay, named their newborn son Moses. It was an unlikely enough name for a baby boy born in 2006, but perhaps less startling than the much discussed (and mocked) handle his sister, Apple, born two years ago, will carry through life.
Not that a name like Apple Martin stands out among celebrity children anymore. The director Peter Farrelly plucked that very name for his daughter before Apple Martin came along. Even that name seems drab compared with Hollywood baby names like Pilot Inspektor, cooked up by Jason Lee, the star of "My Name Is Earl," or Banjo, the inspiration of the "Six Feet Under" star Rachel Griffiths, or Moxie CrimeFighter, a name chosen last year by the comedian and magician Penn Jillette for his daughter.[snip]
Some therapists said the celebrity impulse to foist odd names on their children amounts to simple narcissism by the parents, and the resulting status comes at the child's expense. The children, after all, are the ones who will have to raise their hands every time a teacher calls out "Coco" or "Eulala."
"It's like having a mini me," said a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles. "The child is a part of them, not an individual. It's an appendage."
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Madison? What movie?
Hilarious, even if it isn't true! lol.
Splash, with Darryl Hannah and Tom Hanks. Hannah played a mermaid named Madison.
Oh, but it is true. He has since changed the last name so his mother would not know about any success he has in an acting career. But the first and middle names are the same.
LOL I was wondering what that was about! Guess you were lost! ;)
susie
He will get nicknamed Mo anyway....
susie
I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
And I came away with a different point of view.
And I think about him, now and then,
Every time I try and every time I win,
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
Bill or George! Anything but Sue! I still hate that name!
Freakonomics stole that little riff from Dan Jenkins' ''Life Its Ownself''.
LOL
susie
I tried hard to give my kids all names that didn't have nicknames. They are short, relatively normal names. Unfortunatley they all became popular several years AFTER I named them when Yuppies started naming their kids. Guess I was ahead of the curve.
susie
Israel is a name. Moxie is not. Apple is not. Those are objects. I don't really care what people name their kids, but they should know full well that their child is likely to be teased. It's hard enough being a kid.
susie
LOL ... then you must also use their middle names to get their attention ;)
Coming up with a baby name is so stressful. We are going through it right now. But I would never even consider some of the names these stars have chosen. Moxie Crimefighter? Pilot Inspecktor? Want your kid to be beat up on the playgroud?
Apple has kind of grown on me. But only because the pictures I've seen of her, she is very cute.
Mr. elc had one rule. We couldn't use an Irish name (with Irish spelling) - he's from the north of Ireland and many of our Irish friends here in the US have chosen Irish spelled names and the kids are having a hard time with it during school. No one knows how to pronounce them. And since he pronounces his last name funny - not like it is spelled - he didn't want her having to spell both names.
Of course as soon as he laid down that rule, I fell in love with the name Aoife (Irish for Ava/Eva). But I can see people having a hard time with that one.
So we settled on Neave (shh, its a secret) - the English spelling of Niamh. Since then I've learned the story of Niamh of the Golden Hair and since I'm praying she comes out with my blonde hair and not her fathers dark hair, I now really love the name.
We'll see in a few days (hopefully!!) if the name fits her.
Yeah, it works well that way! Actually the first goes by his middle name, as his first name is his Dad's name. He used to like to go by his first initial and middle name, because he thinks that's cool (he's a musician, what can I say).
susie
My friend named all of her dogs Irish names. They are beautiful names, but I couldn't figure out how to say them from the spellings! And....sadly, part of my heritage is Irish!
susie
Oh, and congratulations and hope things are smooth and unventful. What a blessing a new baby is!
susie
Most names were objects or actions before they became names. The level of teasing a kid endures will be more infinitely more dependent on the nature of the kid than the uniqueness of his name.
Contrary to urban myth, Ima Hogg, the great philanthropist in Houston, never had a sister named Ura - it's said that the story of the two names was started by detractors of her father, the Governor. I even showed the proof of this to a friend who was very disappointed - her father claimed to have gone to school with them both (a little tough since Ima was born in the 1880's).
Moses is a good name, not common certainly, but Apple, CrimeFighter and Banjo, et al, are downright silly. Perhaps celebrities aren't all that concerned since legally changing one's name isn't unusual in their line of work.
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