Posted on 06/27/2006 10:33:31 AM PDT by qam1
Many parents, especially celebrities, are choosing distinctive names or spellings to make their children stand out
Choosing a name for your newborn requires a certain level of sober reflection, contemplation and introspection.
Expectant parents consult relatives and friends, leaf through scores of books and scour the Internet for just the right handle to reflect their little cherub's shining personality, obvious brilliance and unquestionable character.
So it makes you wonder what the recent spate of Hollywood celebrity parents were thinking - or drinking - when they chose such distinctive names, to put it kindly, for their high-profile offspring. That goes for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who named their daughter Shiloh, and Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, who named their girl Suri.
Sure, we've had a chuckle at some and scratched our heads over others, but before you go calling your sons Dilbert after your favorite cartoon character or christening your daughters Brangelina because you adore Couple-of-the-Moment Pitt and Jolie, give it some thought, baby and parenting experts say.
Like all parents, celebrities see their children as extensions of themselves and choose names that reflect their tastes and values, says Babytalk magazine senior editor Christina Vercelletto.
"What's driving this is this whole sort of Gen-X competitive parenting trend," Vercelletto says. "Parents who are now in their 30s, they have their children, and they feel that from birth it's practically a competition. You want your child to stand out. We live in a competitive society, and you don't want your child to blend into the woodwork."
"Names are really brands," says Rachel Weingarten, a branding and trends expert and the president of GTK Marketing Group in Brooklyn.
Take Brangelina's baby, Shiloh. "You're saying we have turned this into a money-maker from birth,"
"It's this whole, 'Look at me' kind of thing."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Ah, the US educational system.
Great read, btw.
Apparently, lots of people name their children just to get attention for themselves, possibly scarring the poor kids
for life. Or until they wise up and legally change their names.
That's not to mention the circular filing/bit bucketing of resumes with pretentious/overly ethnic/etc. names.
'"Odessa Smith? I had a lot of relatives burned alive at Odessa." said the hiring manager...'
That is an excellent name.
This is what I'm looking for, thanks.
As in surrogate?
As in "I'm suri I have such idiots for parents."
...or
Phil McKrackin
Phil McKreviss
Craven Moorehead
Destined to swing around a pole.
Abbott and Costello
Please don't tell me you don't know who they were.
There was a woman I heard give a presentation--from France--named "Ima Fagot." (Pronounced EE-ma FAH-go.)
When we saw the name on the opening slide, none of us could stop laughing.
If her mother's name is Samantha.
One of the tests of a decent name is to yell it out loud three times first. If someone thinks you are crazy, forget the name.
In our local newspaper they occasionally have a Sunday where people can put their babies' pictures in the paper. Some people put in their kid's picture and the name was Jelly Bean something. Four names in all. I saw it later on Jay Leno's Headlines segment.
I also heard of another lady heard a pretty sounding medical term when she was delivering her baby, so she named it Placenta.
Another name her kid Vagina and pronounced it Vageena.
Was that Moon Unit Alpha or Moon Unit Zappa?
Maybe they're secretly superheroes.....
Sounds more like Shallow Pit.
I like the name Lee Harvey.
We have a winner!
Was it a boy or a girl? If it's a girl can you imagine the teasing?
What was it's momma thinking?
Reminds me of that joke where the indian brave asks the chief how he comes up with names of the children in the tribe.
This thread is a treasure trove of linguistic anomalies. Paging Dr. Thornton Poole.
Bull. Shiloh is a great name. Beautiful and a Biblical reference. Probably the smartest thing those two will ever do.
I'd have to name my daughter Argyle then.
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