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 ...
That's good, but a friend of mine, who went to the United States Air Force Academy, met somebody in school who was named Rectum Brown. He had it legally changed. And today I had a cashier called Latrine. Poor girl.
Like in Europe, you mean? There's a ministry in Norway for that, but I forget what it's called. However, I'm certain of the government agency in charge of such silliness in Denmark. It is called the Department of Ecclesiastic Affairs. Their aim is to keep people from naming their children 'Apple', for example. The minister specifically cited Gwyneth Paltrow in an article. Lars and Hans do have that nice Scandinavian ring to them, but how about Mohammed, Suleiman and Osama? If you can name your child those names, why not Apple? If your last name is something neutral like Forest or Tree, Apple would be a great name, wouldn't it?
I hear that Suri Cruse’s father Tom is from Syracuse.
Or a vampire killer.
Also Eve, Sarah (Sara), Mary, Martha, Phoebe, Priscilla, Abigail, Delilah (wicked), Hannah, Jezebel (wicked), Michal, Rebecca, Leah, Rachel, Miriam, Talitha, Tamar
Of course, there's always Scarlett O'Hara
Middle name Palazzo or Diabetes?
My daughter is Sarah. When she belonged to Job's Daughters, they called hers "The Sarah Bethel" because it has seven Sarah's in it.
It truly is a lovely name. It is soft and gracious.
My son is William, and he was named after my father: Ours is the 4th generation to carry on the tradition of one daughter naming a son with the paternal grandfather's first and last name for the new baby's first and middle names. I obviously like tradition.
It's usually spelled Caitlin, pronounced K'ATCH'lin - with little glottals or breaths as shown by the apostrophe.
caution: I don't speak Irish but Scots Gaelic, but they are very close.
Another odd tradition that my husband is very glad we dodged -- if the firstborn is a boy, he's usually named Nimrod (no joke - I have four cousins named Nimrod.)
No- that was her God-given christian name, it was on her birth certificate too!
I don't have children, haven't seen the movie, but when I heard the name I thought, "That's my next golden retriever."
haha! Some traditions are begging to be broken!
:-)
Well, they all seem to like the name. It's always paired with something a little less . . . arresting. Plus, you can call 'em Rod until they're old enough to appreciate it.
What's his nickname?
I like the name Gideon Alexander for a boy and Karissa Irene for a girl. Too bad I'll never have a kid. Always liked choosing names just for the heck of it.
There's a talk radio hostess in my city whose name is Kevin.
And then there's my poor cousin, Dorcas.
. . . or do they?
I know a "Dorcas." Her nickname is "Dorrie," which isn't too bad.
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