'Weird' celebrity baby names that are not (weird).

Cafe Society
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I would like to have a discussion. If you want to join a thread deploring all those stupid names your relatives,friends,co-workers give to their kids, make another thread. This is not it. So leave it out.

What I want to discuss is those newspaper articles- I am sure everyone has read a few- decrying those wacky celebrity names. There are plenty of terrible names -here is a list from one article -

Nicolas Cage- Kal-El

Jason Lee- Pilot Inspektor

David Duchovny and Tea Leoni- Kyd

Sylvester Stallone- Sage Moonblood

Michael Jackson- Blanket

Jermaine Jackson- Jermajesty

Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon- Moroccan

Rachel Griffiths- Banjo Patrick

Alicia Keys Swiss Beatz- Egypt

Mike Myers- Spike

Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale- Kingston James McGregor and Zuma Nesta Rock

Shannyn Sossamon- Audio Science

Forest Whitaker- Ocean

Casey Affleck- Indiana August

Ashlee Simpson- Bronx

Lisa Bonet and Jason Momoa- Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha

Daughter Names:

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin- Apple

Courtney Cox and David Arquette- Coco

Steven Spielberg- Destry

Edge from U2- Blue Angel

Frank Zappa- Moon Unit and Diva Thin Muffin

Penn Jillette- Moxie CrimeFighter

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes- Suri

Pink and Carey Hart- Willow Sage

Bruce Willis and Demi Moore- Rumer, Scout and Tallulah

Jamie Oliver- Buddy Bear, Daisy Boo and Poppy Honey

Nicole Kidman- Sunday Rose

Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin- Ireland

Geri Halliwell- Bluebell Madonna

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden- Harlow

David Beckham -Brooklyn Joseph, Romeo James, Cruz David, and Harper Seven.
What annoys me about these articles is they do not discriminate between the unusual and the terrible. An unusual name is not necessarily a bad name. Beckham’s daughter is ‘Harper’- that is a nice name. It is unusual. She has the curse of a Costanza second name of course.
What also annoys me is they join up the first and second names. Jamie Oliver’s kids are Daisy and Poppy. They are not even unusual-Poppy is in the top 200 names in Australia now. Only connected to the second names do they sound weird.
Also Beyonce named her kid Blue. Ivy is the second name. Ivy is just an unusual name. I am not sure about Blue as a name. It is not terrible. Could be just like Scarlet as a name.
The newspaper articles also do not mention that some are nicknames - Blanket for example.
Other names on this list are not weird at all - Spike, Banjo, Indiana, Romeo. They are all unusual but not weird.
I certainly do not dispute that many are terrible and weird - Dweezil and Bluebell are the worst. But I also think the very popular name now of ‘Summer’ is a terrible name. Every reference to the season sounds like you are talking about your child…

I will re-iterate though- this is a thread about newspaper articles about ‘weird’ celebrity names and the deficiencies of those articles.
I would like to have a discussion. If you want to join a thread deploring all those stupid names your relatives,friends,co-workers give to their kids, make another thread. This is not it. So leave it out.

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Moved to Cafe Society from Great Debates.

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Cafe Society? May I politely enquire as to why?

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Apart from being uncommon, why is Bluebell any worse than other flower names, like Violet or Daisy?

Frank Zappa has pointed out that, while it may be unusual in English, Moon is a standard name in other languages, such as Spanish (Luna) and Hindi (Chandra).

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prob moved to cafe society because the articles with annoying habits you want to discuss cover CELEBRITY baby names. thus, pop culture; thus, cafe society. that’s my guess, anyway.

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“Destry” doesn’t sound like a bad name for Steven Spielberg’s son. It’s unusual, but it’s not the kind of name that’s going to make classmates snicker or strangers sneer, “Where did you get THAT name?” Steven Spielberg is a fim buff, and named his son after the hero of his favorite classic Western (Jimmy Stewart’s Destry Rides Again).

Far from an embarrassing name.

And while Americans might find “Banjo” a strange name, remember that Rachel Griffiths is Australian. She named her child after Banjo Patterson, a beloved Australian poet and songwriter (best known for “Waltzing Mathilda”). The name may not sound quite so strange Down Under.

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Since that was just a nickname and his real name was Andrew not sure if that makes it less unusual.

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Michael Jackson did not have a child named “Blanket”. That was a nickname. His kids are Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. (nicknamed Prince), Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince Michael Jackson II (Blanket). So, for all his eccentricity, his kids got off fairly easy in the name department.

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Because it’s mostly about celebrities and entertainment, and it might be a fun discussion topic but it’s not a serious debate.

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Banjo is a dog’s name. Otherwise I pretty much agree with the OP.

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The thread is meant to be about bad journalism concerning these names. Yes the journalists are talking about celebrities.
If I want to discuss journalism concerning sports is the Game room the only place for that? Can it not be a serious discussion in debates?

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I’m confused. I work in an office full of celebrities. Am I allowed to contribute?

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“We named the dog Indiana!” Dr. Jones, indignantly, to Dr. Jones :slight_smile: in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Hey, in addition to a kid named Indiana, both Steven Spielberg and dog names have been mentioned in this thread. It’s totally apropos. :slight_smile:

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Wait, MJ gave one son the nickname Prince, then turned around and named a different son Prince? Talk about fostering confusion. (And managed to give every one of his kids the name Michael, even the daughter. But that’s just megolomania.)

Re the OP, yes you are correct that some of the names are not horrible just unusual.

I think it is relevant to look at the kid’s full name, first and middle as a set. Moon Unit is particularly one that stands out. Being named Moon Zappa isn’t too bad, I don’t have a big hangup with that, but being “Moon Unit” is goofy. But not as bad as “Dweezil”.

“Sage Moonblood” isn’t horrible. Sage is actually something I wouldn’t flinch at. “Moonblood” is just weird to my ears, but I’m sure there are cultures where it is fine.

“Kingston James McGregor” is utterly normal, with the slight stilted feel of “Kingston”.

“Indiana was the dog’s name.”

Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha looks like it is merely not English.

Buddy Bear, Daisy Boo, and Poppy Honey are goofy names. Going by Buddy, Daisy, and Poppy may circumvent much of that, but their full names are still goofy.

“Sunday Rose”, other than referring to a day of the week, is unusual but hardly unique. Not my choice - too prone to confusion - but not obnoxious.

(I did know a Tuesday, and an Autumn, and a Summer or two.)

“Harper Seven” - the Harper isn’t bad, but the Seven kills it. What happened to Harpers One through Six?

I’m not sure what the debate is. This topic does not appear to be momentous enough for Great Debates. And it’s a celebrity/ pop culture issue. Belongs in Cafe Society.

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You may be right- I’ll let Aussie Dopers weigh in (maybe they’ll say “It’s a weird name HERE, too”).

But if a jazz musician named his son “Duke” after Duke Ellington, I’d wager not too many people would find that REALLY odd, even though Duke’s real name was Edward.

Along those lines, Woody Allen named one of his kids “Satchel” after his favorite athlete of all time… even though Satchel Paige’s real name was Leroy.

I admit, though, I wouldn’t want any of my fellow Yankee fans to name their kids Whitey, Babe, Moose, Sparky or Yogi.

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Duchovny, who studied literature at Yale, named his son “Kyd” after playwright Thomas Kyd.

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You’re talking about opinions and commentary, not straight journalism. And again, it’s opinions and commentary about the names famous people give to their children.

That’s probably more of a Game Room topic, yes. The Game Room is where the sports fans are, so that’s where you are likely to get the best discussion of a sports topic. This is where the arts and entertainment fans are, and it’s the best place for this topic.

The description for Great Debates is “For long-running discussions of the great questions of our time. This is also the place for religious debates and (if you feel you must) witnessing.” Cafe Society is “Our salon for art, drama, literature, movies, music, comics, cuisine – all the artistic disciplines – if it’s about creativity, entertainment, or leisure, it goes here.”

If we keep discussing this it’s going to detract from your thread, and I’d rather not do that. If you have other questions, send me a private message or start a thread in ATMB.

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But the difference beween unusual and terrible is a matter of opinion. Why or how should the article determine if it’s a terrible name or not?
No one can dispute if the name is unusual or not and that’s what they’re reporting.
A “good” unusual name for one person may be a “terrible” unusual name for another.

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For Blue Ivy it was more the reason for the name that I thought stupid. Blue from his album blueprint and Ivy because it sounds like the roman numeral IV because there a lot of 4 birthdays and anniversarys in the family. (at least that’s how Carson daly described it)

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Specifically, it’s presumably Hawaiian (Momoa is Hawaiian). Her elder sister is named Lola-Iolani.