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 ...
"Joaquin" is one of my favorites.
Are you Suri is?
My best friend has an Aaron - her 5th boy, I think. Perfectly good name, as long as you don't try to be creative with the spelling :-).
Burt Lancaster
I'm thinking yes to the mandatoriness of the red hair. She dug back four generations to find it, and man it is red. Well, orange in all honesty. She was the baldest little think, but you took her out in the sunlight and her head looked like you had spray painted it. Sure makes it easy to spot her in a crowd....
bttt
Chloe is a pretty name. It now ranks 19th on popular girl names.
I'll bet she's a cutie!
Mine was bald too. We didn't think she was ever going to get hair. Now it's down to her waist.
They were all preaching the same thing.
Salvation is through the death and resurrection of Christ. It doesn't matter who WE are. It matters who HE is!
Forgive me, but Peter was not the head of the Church. Christ is the Head of the Church.
:)
That's my baby you are disparaging.
There's two then, cause this definitely ain't that guy.
I know a Chad and a Chance.
It didn't take my ex and me very long to decide never to name a girl combining the names of my mom, Polly, and his mom, Esther. (Never did have kids, anyhow.)
It's an English place name, county seat of Lancashire. Also the title of a House that several English Kings were from. Lancaster royal house from 1399 to 1461 produced three kings of England—Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI.
It translates as "fortified settlement (castle) on the Loyne/Lan River."
If you or anyone else have any other questions about names or wish for help selecting a name, please FR me! I love this stuff.
I like it. Masuline, a name that deserves respect. I named my boy "Jonothan Ezra". "Jonothan" is a gallic spelling, and Ezra is a really cool name that you just don't see much anymore (my great uncle was named Ezra).
That is probably true about those with made up names destined for dead end jobs.Yet only temperarily since in the not too distant future Shaniqua will not hesitate to hire Shawana.
It could be worse.
There could be hundreds of kids named Sean and called "SEEN".
That's how I feel when I see the Irish spelling of Kathleen pronounced wrong.
"Caitlyn" is supposed to be pronounced "Kathleen".
No, Caitlyn's parents, that's not a "new" Irish name. It's been around for centuries.
Aithne?
"I like Biblical names."
Me, too. Tabitha. Shiloh. Deborah. Dinah. Elizabeth. Lydia. Candace (3 syllables). Seth. There are so many...
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