HEY, JUDE: Names from the Beatles and beyond

September 2nd, 2009 at 12:10 am

I love the Beatles, and for a time actually liked the name Lucy because of the song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”
But then again, how do you explain to your daughter that her name was inspired by a song about drugs? Lol.

I also love the name Jude, but being Jewish from my background, I could never bestow that name onto my child.

But I do love the name Clementine.

September 2nd, 2009 at 1:39 am

Great blog! I love the idea of names in songs.You might want to listen to the lyrics really close because one day said child named after said song is going to want to hear it too. Hopefully this blog inspires readers to do more searching for name related songs. Lots of fun!

September 2nd, 2009 at 2:21 am

rachelmarie–
If it makes you feel any better about Lucy, I’ve read that the LSD story really isn’t true.

September 2nd, 2009 at 4:39 am

‘Hey Jude’ was originally going to be ‘Hey Jules’, because Paul McCartney had the idea to write a song for Julian Lennon to comfort him about his parents’ divorce, but Paul changed it to ‘Hey Jude’ as he thought it sounded better. When I discovered this, we started using Jude as a nickname for our son (Julius), because it on our mind it’s a legitimate nickname because of the ‘Hey Jude’/'Hey Jules’ thing!

September 2nd, 2009 at 6:34 am

My mom started a tradition of having a song for each of us kids (the song being chosen after the name though) and mine was “For Emily Wherever I May Find Her” by Simon & Garfunkel. My brother had “Sweet Baby James” etc.

Now that I have a son, I’d like to find a song for him- his name is Kevin. I’ve been wracking my brains for a song with Kevin, to no avail, and I’ve tried searching song databases but just end up finding songs BY a Kevin….anyone here have any suggestions?

Also, Cecilia used to be my all time favorite, I’d go around singing it when I was little and my mom thought, hmmm, maybe I shouldn’t have let her listen to that so often, she’s 8 years old and singing about “making love in the afternoon with Cecilia, up in my bedroom, I get up to wash my face, when I come back to bed, someone’s taken my place” haha!
I did always tell her I wanted to name a daughter Cecilia, but turns out my husband definitely doesn’t like it, and I’m not as obsessed with it as an adult anyways…

September 2nd, 2009 at 8:23 am

You left off my favorite pair from a Beatles song–Desmond and Molly.
Also, the Allman Brothers song Sweet Melissa always makes me smile.

September 2nd, 2009 at 8:29 am

A few more:

“Melissa” by the Allman Brothers Band
“Jolene” by Dolly Parton
“Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond
… and my personal favorite, “Elaine” by Abba.

September 2nd, 2009 at 8:35 am

Elsa, neat story! I love Jude as a nn for Julius. And what a fun post.

As for Ruby, there’s also Rancid’s Ruby Soho (1995) and the Kaiser Chef’s Ruby (2007). She’s supermusical. And don’t forget the Plain White Tee’s Delilah!

I don’t remember all of the lyrics to Prince’s Nikki, but I’m pretty confident that you’d go to Bad Parent He!! if you used that one as a lullaby.

September 2nd, 2009 at 10:19 am

My daughter and her husband are strongly leaning towards the name Jude if their baby due in January is a boy. Reading rachelmarie’s comment above, I am reminded of my own concerns about some problematic associations with the name Jude. And yet, the name seems to be rising in popularity and well-liked by many parents. It may be that the not-so-positive associations I have with the name are not known or cared about by younger parents. ??? I’ve suggested Julian called “Jude” (even though John Charles Julian Lennon’s nn is “Jules”), but my daughter prefers Jude as the given name.

September 2nd, 2009 at 12:18 pm

From what I understand, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds isn’t about drugs. It was inspired by a drawing made by Julian Lennon. When John asked what the drawing was, Julien replied, “That’s Lucy (his friend), in the sky with diamonds.”

September 2nd, 2009 at 1:05 pm

Em-

I had recently found a site that listed songs that contained the named you searched for. Here is what I found for Kevin. I haven’t researched any of the songs so I’m sure they are a few undesirables in the mix. Hope this helped.

Cousin Kevin (The Who)
Free Kevin Kjonaas (Goldfinger)
Full On Kevin’s Mom (Soundgarden)
Give My Love to Kevin (The Wedding Present)
Kevin (Pansy Division)
Kevin Barry (Hank Locklin)
Kevin Carter (Manic Street Preachers)
Kevin Costner’s Casino (Lawrence Arms)
Kevin’s Blues (Carl Cacho)
Kevin’s Song (Down by Law)
Kevin’s Song (Goo Goo Dolls)
Kevin’s Song (Squad Five-O)
Kevin’s Telescope (The Gathering)
Megan and Kevin (Anne O’Meara Heaton)
Mephisto and Kevin (South Park)
Mephisto And Kevin (TV Theme Songs)
Ode To Kevin Arnold (Ludo)
R.I.P. Kevin (TRU)
Two Kevins (Cigar)

September 2nd, 2009 at 2:48 pm

@disa_lan

Awesome! I tried so many different lyric sites and was getting frustrated. Off to research your list…

September 2nd, 2009 at 3:50 pm

I know a family with daughters named Eleanor and Lucy, after the Beatles songs.

Jeremy (Pearl Jam) is a song you really wouldn’t want to be singing to your kids – though I do like the song and the name is ok.

September 2nd, 2009 at 4:05 pm

I would not sing ‘Jeremy’ to anyone under 14 because it is inspired by a teen who killed himself. However Jeremy is a nice classic name.

September 2nd, 2009 at 4:27 pm

Cool blog. I was in the Beatles Fan Club from 1966 onwards, and my best friend Judith and I, lived and breathed the Beatles. She loved John, and I loved Paul and we spent many summers camped outside Paul McCartney’s house in St. John’s Wood, London. Despite this, I never thought of naming a child after one of their songs,(hate the name Michelle, sorry) although I did (and still do) love “Eleanor Rigby”, and Lucy in the Sky. (Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was my first ever album bought with my own pocket money). This was a very nostalgic blog for me!

Adore the name Prudence, by the way, and as for “Lovely RITA, meter maid” – I wonder if Rita is due for a comeback at all?

September 2nd, 2009 at 4:27 pm

I was named for the Trooper song ‘Janine’. I love having it as a personal little anthem even if it is a depressing song. lol.

September 2nd, 2009 at 7:47 pm

British American, I totally agree about “Jeremy,” though it’s awfully fun to sing! If anyone was inspired to name a kid after the song, they shouldn’t cop to it.

September 3rd, 2009 at 10:32 am

I’m Ruby after Ruby Tuesday, my brother is Jude after Hey Jude and my sister is Sadie after Sexy Sadie (also by the Beatles but not on this list). So we all have our own personal theme tune although Sadie doesn’t get it anyway near as often as me and Jude. And now I get “Ruby” by the Kaiser Chiefs sung to me too.

September 3rd, 2009 at 1:50 pm

I wanted a “Cassidy” even though I really don’t like that name that much. Its a Grateful Dead song and the lyrics are great to sing to a baby, something like “you were born to me…Cassidy”

September 3rd, 2009 at 6:25 pm

Theres also
“Flowers for Zoe” Lenny Kravitz
“Georgia Georgia” Elliot Smith*
“Racey Lacey” Girls Aloud*
“Alayna” LFO*
“Kelsey” Metro Station
“Callie’s Song” Silent Confessions
“Little Rachel” Eric Clapton

Theres also a ton of Kate, Jenn, and Anne songs
* okay so i wouldnt exactly play these songs for alittle kid…

September 6th, 2009 at 1:12 pm

@ Jen Maselli:
His son actually drew a picture of that because of the song. Julien didn’t get what Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds meant, so he drew that picture of what he though it meant.
I did a research paper about John Lennon in 8th grade and that’s one of the random facts that stuck with me.

September 7th, 2009 at 6:40 pm

@ rachelmarie:

I first heard the story about the song being inspired by a painting of Julien’s school friend while watching the Anthology when it first aired in 1995. Many, many sources also report that Julien Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Martin confirm the story and deny that Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is directly about LSD. It was other people who pointed out the LUCY SKY DIAMONDS = LSD connection after Sgt. Pepper was released. Obviously John Lennon and the rest of the boys were experimenting with drugs including LSD during the approximate time that Sgt Pepper was being written, and undoubtedly the song and the album were influenced by their experiences, but from everything I’ve read and watched, the song was inspired by Julien’s artwork featuring his classmate named Lucy.

Of course, I could be wrong. All of that Beatles history is now just lore and legend, sometimes separating fact from fiction is impossible.

September 8th, 2009 at 10:44 pm

Rhonda and Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys. I love name songs. I also love that some of the classic names still have a little spark left in them

September 19th, 2009 at 8:47 am

My sister is Barbara Joanne and I used to modify the lyrics to “Barbara Anne” to fit her name…she still hates that song.

My daughter almost ended up Stephanie Rhiannon (yes for Stevie Nicks AND the song) and “Crystal” is another Fleetwood Mac song title…

A great lullaby by Anne Murray is called “Danny’s Song” and it was written for her own son

ABBA also do a beautiful song called Cassandra but might be kind of depressing as a lullaby..hmm…
And apparently baby Sparrow was named for the Simon & Garfunkel song (at least they didn’t call him Baby Driver)