Celebrities are not like everyday people. They have busy schedules, drive expensive cars, and wear jewellery that others can only dream of owning. Maybe it is because celebrities are so far removed from normal life that they often give their babies unusual names.Naming kids after places is nothing new: examples are Dakota (whose parents are Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson) and Paris Hilton. Actor Casey Affleck and fiancé Summer Phoenix went beyond when they had a son named Indiana August, which leads one to wonder what state and month their son was conceived in.
Some other celebs choose food to name their babies. Gwyneth Paltrow came under scrutiny for naming her first child Apple. While it is unusual, it is somewhat cute, like in the "apple of their eye." Chris Martin, her husband, tired of the controversy over the name Apple, jokingly stated their second child, whether male or female, would be named Banana. Julia Roberts gave birth to twins – a boy and a girl : her daughter's name is Hazel, whereas she did the more eccentric choice of Phinnaeus for her son.
Some names sound connected with religion. Many people speculated what Madonna would name her first child. Lourdes Maria seems a fitting name for child whose mother's name is Madonna, but she often goes by Lola. Her son is named Rocco, which sounds a bit like a cartoon character, but at least it is a tough sounding name.
Some celebrities choose household objects to name their children. Poor little Camera Ashe: her dad was Arthur Ashe, a tennis star, and her mother was a photographer. Satchel Seamus was given that odd name by his dad Woody Allen naming him after a bag used for carrying school books. Toni Braxton has two sons, Denim and Diezel. While both useful products, they make somewhat strange names for children.
Job descriptions are also used by celebrities as names. Actor Jason Lee named his son Pilot Inspektor and magician Penn Jillette named his daughter, Moxie Crimefighter.
Bogart Che Peyote, David Rainey's poor child, has a name that is related to smoking pot (Bogart is a marijuana cigarette), a famous revolutionary, and another illegal drug (peyote).
Some names are just a little different. John Travolta and Kelly Preston named their daughter Ella Bleu and their son Jett. The name Jett is different, but anyone who knows anything about John Travolta knows he has a love for flying.
Giving strange names to celebrity names is not is a new trend however. Back in 1971, David Bowie and his then wife Angela decided to name their son Duncan Zowie Heywood Jones. He soon became known as Zowie Bowie. Cher named her children Chastity Sun and Elijah Blue.
Weird names run in families...
The Phoenix family is well known for their unusual choice of baby names. Summer Phoenix's siblings are the late actor River Phoenix, actresses Rain and Liberty Phoenix and actor Joaquin Phoenix. Joaquin felt his name was so out of place with his siblings, that when he was four, he decided to change his name to Leaf. By the early 1990's, he had reverted back to using his birth name. Another family infamous for their choices of baby names is the Zappa family. Frank's children are Dweezil, Moon Unit, Ahmed Emuukha Rodan and Diva Muffin. While many people think that Dweezil is his given name, his birth name was originally Ian Donald Calvin Euclid Zappa because the hospital refused to register the name Dweezil. Always called Dweezil, when he was a child, he wanted to make the name official and his parents took him to have it changed legally. Paula Yates, former wife of Sir Bob Geldof and girlfriend of late rocker Michael Hutchence, also had a knack for giving her children unusual names. Her children are called Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches Honeyblossom Michelle Charlotte Angel Vanessa, Heavenly Hiraani Tigerlily, and Little Pixie.
Some celebrities' baby names have a story behind them. Eurythmic's Dave Stewart named his son Django after jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. Stevie Wonder named his son Mandla Kadjaly Carl Stevland, however Mandla means "powerful" in Zulu and Kadjaly means "born from God" in Swahili. Helen Hunt just gave birth to a baby girl she named Makena'lei Gordon. The name Makena'lei is from a friend's dream and means "many flowers of heaven." Gordon, an unlikely girl's name, was to honour of Helen's father, television director Gordon Hunt. Nicolas Cage just named his new baby boy Kal-el. Because Nicolas took his stage name of Cage from comic book character Luke Cage, he decided to name his son Kal-el after one of his favourite comic book heroes. Kal-el is Superman's kryptonian name. Kevin Smith named his daughter Harley Quinn, after a Batman villain. It seems celebrities choose not to display their affection for comics in their neatly sleeved, perfectly stacked collection but on their kids.
Do celebrities' kids like their names?
So, do the children like these unconventional names given them by their parents? In some cases, they do. The Phoenix's seem to love their nature-inspired names and the Zappa children seem to have had no ill effects from their eccentric names. However, some children tire of the peculiar names quickly. Zowie Bowie, by the time he was 12, asked to be referred to as "Joey." Although Dandelion Richards does not seem too bad, she has since started referring to herself as Angela. Recently, Peaches Honeyblossom Michelle Charlotte Angel Vanessa Geldof has been the most outspoken about the odd choice her parents made in naming her. She has been quoted as saying, "I hate ridiculous names. My weird name has haunted me all my life."
While having an unusual name might be difficult for any child, the celebrity of a child's parents may enhance it even further. Thankfully, celebrity children who decide they don't like their given names can switch to a nickname or even eventually have their names legally changed.
