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ANNE HECHE’S ATLAS JOINS THE PANTHEON OF STARBABY GODS & GODDESSES

greek-god-bib Yesterday we got the news flash that Anne Heche named her son Atlas and last week we learned that Erykah Badu chose Mars for her baby girl. Do we smell the beginnings of a trendlet?

Yes, some celebrity parents do seem to be intent on making little gods and goddesses–instant objects of worship– of their infants right from the get-go. Names that were previously considered too powerful for a baby to bear (after all, Atlas did carry the weight of the heavens on his shoulders, and Mars was the Roman god of war) now seem to have descended from Mt. Olympus into the realm of mortal possibility.

Of course, Atlas and Mars aren’t the first mythic starbabies. Others include:

AURORA — Nancy McKeon

CALLIOPE – Patricia Arquette (middle name)

CASTOR – James Hetfield

GAIA – Emma Thompson

HERMES — Kelly Rutherford

ICARUS — Lucy Sykes (middle name)

JUNO – Will Champion

LUNA – Constance Marie

ORION – Chris Noth

And there are lots of other names of ancient Greek and Roman gods, goddesses and muses that could work for a contemporary American baby, some of which are still commonly used in Greece, such as:

GODDESSES

GODS

AEOLUS

AGON

AJAX (beware the foaming cleanser)

ARES

TRITON

ZEUS

Tags: Anne Heche baby Atlas, celebrity baby names, goddess baby names, Greek god baby names, Hermes, Juno, mythological names, Orion, unique baby names, unusual baby names, Venus, Zeus

This entry was posted on Friday, March 13th, 2009 at 12:05 am and is filed under Uncategorized, boys' names, celebrity baby names, classic baby names, exotic baby names, girls' names, hero names, international baby names, mythological names, name trends, quirky names, unusual baby names . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “ANNE HECHE’S ATLAS JOINS THE PANTHEON OF STARBABY GODS & GODDESSES”

Lola Says:

March 13th, 2009 at 9:03 am

Some of these are most awesome! Being an ordinary human myself, these are fantastic middle name possibilities! Ariadne, Clio (Verity has one!), Thalia & Minerva all float around on my lists for girls. For boys, Apollo, Ares, Vulan (for Spock, not the gods!) and Zephyr all float around for possible use. Sylvanus is cool too! I’ve also got the feminine Apolline somewhere,
I really think these would make really stand apart middles for any kid and with their hisroty and myth, they’ll be standouts forever.

Awesome post, I love Mythological names! Thanks!:D

Abby Says:

March 13th, 2009 at 11:44 am

I love this list! Obviously, I’m partial to Clio.

But I also love Orion. And Atalanta has been a long-time favorite of mine. Except that she’d be called Atlanta – constantly. So I can’t quite see using it.

Lola, I love Apolline in the middle spot for a girl. There’s Zepyhrine, too!

Elisabeth@YCCII Says:

March 13th, 2009 at 1:50 pm

Lots of great names here, and such a timely post!

I’ve always thought Atlas, sounded “strong”, but with big bro Homer I think it’s pretty over the top. Other longstanding favorites: Thalia, Artemis (and Artemisia), Maia (despite popularity), Jove, and Ajax.

Isabella from Italy Says:

March 14th, 2009 at 3:55 am

I always loved greek mythology so I think Anne&James’ choice is fantastic!
I love strange names e.g. I like Clytemnestra but I realize in italian it’s a very hard name to have caused by its sound because it can remind another word with other meaning

Ash SP Says:

March 14th, 2009 at 8:04 am

Hera is on our list of possibilities. It was somewhat revived by Battlestar Galactica.

Atlas « You Can’t Call It “It”! Says:

March 14th, 2009 at 10:00 am

[...] brother Homer in the Anne Heche and James Tupper household. If you haven’t visited already, Nameberry did a great job covering the movement toward naming after Greco-Roman gods and goddesses already, [...]

Much Ado About: Leta « Much Ado About Naming Says:

March 17th, 2009 at 3:02 am

[...] wouldn’t expect Leta and Leda to remain off the charts for long. With god and goddess names “in” among celebrities, the mortal Leda seems wearable for the babies of non-celebrity [...]