Suri Cruise, if a bit porn-starrish, is at least an okay name, as is Grier Henchy. The names are uncommon enough to stand out but not trendy, fabricated or just stupid.
I lost a lot of respect for Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) when, a first time father in his late 50s (an age at which you’d think he’d gotten goofiness out of his system) he named his daughter Moxie Crimefighter Jillette. They’re currently expecting a boy they’ll name Zolton (though this is his wife’s maiden name so it’s not quite as gimmicky).
Nicholas Cage made headlines for christening his son Khalel Coppola (his kids go by his birth surname, but the Khalel was the headline grabber).
Jason Lee’s son can one day write an autobiography entitled MY NAME IS PILOT INSPEKTOR.
For years Dakota was the fallback of the unimaginative (Melissa Gilbert, Don Johnson and several others). Michael Jackson has his Princes and Blanket. Steve Allen’s oldest grandson (though that doesn’t really count as celebrity kid, but I’ll mention it anyway) was named “Possibility Allen” as his parents were free-love hippies and not certain or concerned about his paternity [he was later renamed a conventional name]).
What are some other odd, strange, curious and or just plain silly and stupid names given by famous people (need not be actors) to their spawn?
One of Bono’s sons got stuck with a real mouthful: Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q. The other three didn’t fare too badly (Jordan, Memphis Eve and John Abraham), so I’m not quite sure what happened with that poor kid.
There is of course Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s little sprout, Apple Blythe Allison Martin. Just add an “I” on the end, and you’ve got yourself a nice Apple Martini! Plus, Apple Blythe sounds like some sort of disease. At least Moses, their most recent, isn’t quite as bad. It is a name, after all, and not a fruit. Plus, he can always go by Mo.
> I lost a lot of respect for Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) when, a first time father
> in his late 50s (an age at which you’d think he’d gotten goofiness out of his
> system) he named his daughter Moxie Crimefighter Jillette.
Jillette was 50 when his daughter Moxie was born.
yellowval writes:
> Plus, Apple Blythe sounds like some sort of disease.
“Blythe” is the most reasonable part of the name, since it’s Gwyneth’s mother’s name.
Surely I wasn’t the first to think of Zowie Bowie? To be fair Dave & Angie gave him a couple of normal names, too, so he could change if he wanted. He now goes by Duncan.
Or how about Rob “Northern Exposure” Morrow naming his daughter Tu?
(And “Fifi Trixibelle” sounds like something you’d call a poodle!)
I know that, it’s just that paired with “Apple,” it sounds like a disease. They’d have been better off just naming her “Blythe” after her grandma and dropping the “Apple” (heh).
In a contrary trend, when Meadowlark Lemon’s (real name: Meadow George Lemon III) son was born while he was barnstorming overseas with the Globetrotters, his wife named the tyke Meadow George the IV. Meadowlark has having none of that, and changed the tyke’s name to George, saying he didn’t want his son to have to defend himslef everyday at school like he had to.
I actually like the fact that Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong named his son Jakob so that he can say “Danger is my middle name” - Jakob Danger Armstrong.
According to a few sources I’ve seen (Wikipedia, IMDb, etc.), when Dweezil Zappa was born, the hospital refused to write “Dweezil” on the birth certificate. So for some time, his legal name was Ian Donald Calvin Euclid Zappa - after other guys in Zappa’s band.
Per the same sources, Kiefer Sutherland’s full name is Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland. None of those is astonishingly weird, but it’s enough names for three kids.
I thought “Scout” (Demi Moore’s daughter) was a goofy name until I realized she was probably named for the character in To Kill A Mockingbird. That makes it basically cool.
Before I remembered the movie, I was thinking of Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, military scouts, etc.
The Baby Name Wizard’s recent post that challenges the “all celebrities name their kids something wacky” meme did remind me that Shannyn Sossamon named her kid Audio Science. Which I have to admit, I kind of like, though I wouldn’t use it myself.
(Also, I realize the OP was not arguing that all celebrity parents are crazy. Just to be clear.)
Certainly couldn’t be any more confusing in my family, where I’m constantly called by my sisters’ names, my aunt’s name, my niece’s name, and my cousin’s name, and where my niece is constantly called by my name.