Guest blogger JILL BARNETT ponders the reinvented names that work magic on our lives….or do they?

I stood in front of the mirror backstage, proudly inspecting my makeup and blue and white gingham costume. Granted, I was in the midst of the most unfortunate awkward phase in the history of adolescence (my parents truly should have kept me indoors as a public service), but on that night, opening night of our middle school musical, The Wizard of Oz, I was too excited about my debut as Dorothy to notice that my skinny body and giant hair made me resemble a human Q-Tip. As I saw my gangly13-year-old reflection staring back at me, only one thing entered my mind: stardom!

I couldn’t deny that dress rehearsals hadn’t been pretty–the Stryofoam rainbow prop had a habit of crashing to the ground as I sang about troubles melting like lemon drops, and then there was that pesky issue of my ruby slippers shedding chunks of red glitter with every step I took, but in my mind, this elite middle school production of The Wizard of Oz (complete with an orchestra consisting of a pianist, a flatulent flautist, and a drummer who smelled like Velveeta cheese) was my launching pad to certain fame. Who cared that many of the Munchkins were taller than I was, that our Toto was missing in action, or that the stage crew had never gotten around to actually building a set? Not I! I was too busy daydreaming about seeing my name in lights.

WAIT! My name in lights? Jill Barnett in lights? I didn’t even like my given name for everyday use, and certainly had no desire to see it on the marquis of the Gershwin Theatre or to hear it read aloud upon the win of my first Tony Award. Nope, Jill Barnett simply wouldn’t do, and in my opinion, it had even less star quality than a name like Frances Ethel Gumm, who happened to be my favorite actress and singer.

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We looked at trailblazing women in Part One of this blog yesterday—bold and courageous achievers who would prove worthy namesakes for a daughter.  Now we turn to those with major accomplishments in the arts—a varied mix of writers, artists, and musicians of the far and fairly recent  past—many of whom seem to have appropriately creative names—whether they were born with them or not.

Again, remember that the name’s the thing here—so sorry, Mary Cassatt and Elizabeth Barrett Browning–not this time.

WRITERS

AGATHA Christie

ANAIS Nin

APHRA Behn (also seen on the trailblazer list)

AYN Rand

CARSON (born Lula) McCullers

CHARLOTTE Bronte

COLETTE (born Sidonie-Gabrielle Collette)

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As Black History Month segues into  Women’s History Month this weekend, we thought we’d take a look at the names of some African-American heroines.

Actually, compiling this list was not as easy as you might think (or as it should be).  Google and book searches tended to turn up only the usual suspects.  And then, late as usual, I bought my 2009 calendar from the bargain bin: A Journey Into 365 Days of Black History — Notable Women.

An array of admirable women are listed there, all of whom would provide wonderful role models (and lovely names) for any child.  The best:

ALICE Dunbar-Nelson — Journalist, poet, author.

BARBARA Jordan — Texas Congresswoman who won fame during Nixon impeachment hearings.

BESSIE Coleman — In 1922, became the world’s only licensed black pilot.  She staged flying exhibitions to fund a school to train black aviationists.

CHARLOTTE Ray — In 1872, became the first black female lawyer.

CLARA Stanton Jones — The American Library Association’s first African-American president.

CLEMENTINE Hunter — African-American painter, born in 1887.

CONSTANCE Baker Motley — First black female federal judge.

CORETTA Scott King — Widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

DOROTHY West — Harlem Renaissance author.

ELLA Fitzgerald — Jazz singer.

FAYE Wattleton — Women’s rights activist.

GWENDOLYN Brooks — Poet and first African-American to win the Pulitzer.

HALLIE Quinn Brown — 19th century women’s rights activist.

HARRIET Tubman (born ARAMINTA Ross) — Escaped slave who became an abolitionist and Union spy; most famous for her work with the Underground Railroad.

IDA B. Wells-Barnett — Journalist and founding member of the NAACP.

JANE Bolin — Judge and community activist; first black woman to graduate from Yale Law School.

JOSEPHINE Baker — Politically-minded entertainer who was the Angelina Jolie of her day.

JUANITA Hall — First black actress to win a Tony Award.

KARA Walker — Artist best known for her silhouettes.

LENA Horne — Actress, singer, and civil rights activist.

LORRAINE Hansberry — Author of play “A Raisin in the Sun”

MABEL Mercer — English singer.

MAHALIA Jackson — Gospel singer.

MARIAN Anderson — First black singer to perform with the Metropolitan Opera.

MARIAN Wright Edelman — Children’s Defense Fund founder.

NATALIE Hinderas — Composer and classical musician.

OCTAVIA Victoria Rogers Albert — Author and teacher.

PEARL Bailey — Actress and singer.

PHILLIS Wheatley — First published African-American female poet.  The name Phillis or Phyllis, the Roman goddess of spring, was typical of the classical names given to early African-Americans.

PRUDENCE Crandall — White woman arrested for teaching black girls at her school in 1833.

ROSA Parks — Heroine of the famous bus boycott that launched the civil rights movement.

ROSETTA Tharpe — Jazz and blues singer and songwriter.

RUBY Dee — Actress.

SADIE Tanner Mossell Alexander — The first African-American Ph.D. in economics.

SARAH Vaughan — Jazz musician.

SHIRLEY Chisholm — First black woman elected to Congress.

SOJOURNER Truth — Abolitionist and women’s rights activist.

SUSIE King Taylor — Ex-slave who became Civil War nurse.

TONI Morrison — Novelist who won the Nobel Prize in literature.

VIOLETTE Neatley Anderson — In the 1920s, became the first black female attorney to argue cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

WILMA Rudolph — Olympic runner.

ZENSI MIRIAM Makeba — African singer.

An inspiration for everything from vampires to voodoo, from zydeco to the Krewe of Zulu, Louisiana has been a colorful melting pot of divergent cultures for centuries.  Cajuns from Canada, Creoles and others of Haitian, African, Italian, Spanish, or Native American descent, all come together to form a mélange of backgrounds, and in point of fact, names.  Most share a history of French language and Catholicism, even if it’s not by blood. While these may not be the choices in use today in the Bayou, they have been culled from historical documents, maps, and folklore from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries.  The majority are either French proper, or my favorite, Frenchified.  Still more trace their roots to Classical Greco-Roman civilization, deep Southern culture, or are somewhere farther afield and include a curious preponderance of the letter Z.

So come on!  Allez-y! Chew on these names (and some maque choux), prepare to bare all for those beads, and laissez les bon temps roulez!

LADIES

Acadia- The word Cajun itself has its origins in Acadian

Adelaide

Alexandrine

Alma

Alzophine

Ambrosine

Ameline, Emeline

Arzilla

Avoyelles- This Cajun Parish might be picked up as a first name, piggybacking on the current Ava and Ellie love

Beatrice

Belle

Berangere

Bernadette- A much beloved Catholic saint, and one of the prettiest songs in the native New Orleans Neville Brothers repertoire

Cezelia

Clotille

Delphine- While Delphine is a lovely and lilting name, Delphine LaLaurie was a famous socialite and sadist who tortured her slaves

Dixie- Used to refer to the South at large, this may have originated in New Orleans on the ten dollar bill, upon which a local bank printed “dix”, the French for ten.

Dolucila

Elva

Ernestine

Eugenie- Napoleon’s first love

Eula, Eulalie

Evangeline- An epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow recalling the 1755 deportation of Acadian Canadians to the newly Spanish Louisiana

Ezora

Geraldine

Gertrude

Ghislaine

Heloise

Hiawatha- Another tale regaled by Longfellow, Hiawatha may not have been from the Bayou, but she had namesakes here

Ida

Josephine- Napoleon’s (second) love

Leonie

Lougenia

Magnolia- The state flower of Louisiana

Mahalia- Mahalia Jackson is a gospel and blues singer from the area, with a name worth borrowing

Marie- Marie Laveau was a reknowned Voodoo Queen who was visited by slaves and owners alike

Maude

Maxzille

Melba

Mellette

Minerva, Minnie

Oatha

Odilia

Ola, Olla Mae, Olima

Onezie, Onezime

Ophelia

Philomine, Philonese

Rosella

Sabine- The Sabine River runs through Louisiana

Sophronia

Tammany- Parish north of New Orleans

Ysabeau

Zeline

Zenobia (also spotted as Senobia)

Zerilda

GENTS

Alphonse

Amedee

Amos- Amos Moses is a song by Jerry Reed about a fictional one armed alligator-hunting Cajun man

Armand

Auguste, Augustin

Bartheleme

Beau, Beauregard- Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was the most famous Civil War soldier from New Orleans and fought in the Battle of Shiloh;  his ghost is said to roam the streets of New Orleans whispering “Shiloh“, which means “place of peace”

Bernard- Parish east of New Orleans

Bertrand

Buford

Charles- Geographically, Charles is everywhere, from a street in NOLA to the western city of Lake Charles to St. Charles Parish in the east

Cleophas

Clovis

Cornelius

Cyriaque

Dagobert- Pere Dagobert was a well-respected 18th century priest who is still said to be heard singing “Kyrie” while keeping a watchful eye over the city of New Orleans.

Dempsey

Eloi

Gaston

Gilbert

Gustave –2008’s Hurricane Gustav (yes, that’s the way the storm was spelled) may have dampened enthusiasm for this name.

Hippolyte

Homer

Jacques

Jean-Baptiste- Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville founded Nouvelle-Orleans in 1718

Jules, Julius

Landry- St. Landry Parish is home to many a Cajun

Leon, Leontel

LeRoy- Leroy is originally from “le roi” or, “the king”

Louis -Louis Armstrong and Louis Prima are both Louisiana natives

Octave

Otis

Napoleon

Philippe- The city was named for Philippe II, Duc d’Orleans

Pierre- Pierre Augustin Charles Bourguignon Derbigny was among Louisiana’s Creole governors

Remy

Rene

Rex

Theodore, Theodule, Theophile, Theophilus

Virgil

*UPDATE!  The M.I.A. baby had been named, and the name is….Ikhyd (first erroneously reported as Ickitt) Edgar Arular.  Take that, Bronx Mowgli and Moxie Crimefighter!  Congratulations, we think.

The M.I.A. baby is due on Sunday, the same day the nine months pregnant pop artist is set to perform at the Grammy Awards.  But the event we’re really anticipating is the announcement of the M.I.A. baby name.

Ever since Frank Zappa named his children Moon Unit and Dweezil, crazy baby names have become a rocker institution.   Listen up, M.I.A.:  Lesson 1 in naming your rocker or rapper baby is that you can never choose a regular old first name.  Instead, consider the following baby-naming lessons from the musical mommies and daddies who came before you:

Name Your Baby After Another Musician

There are lots of good choices among the Musician Names.  Your fellow rockers seems to be the name of someone cool and dead, as detailed by the following choices:

CASH (as in Johnny) – “Slash” Hudson from Guns N’ Roses
DJANGO (as in Reinhart) — Siobhan (Bananarama) Fahey & Dave Stewart
EVERLY (as in Brothers) — Anthony (Red Hot Chili Peppers) Kiedis
HENDRIX (Jimi) — Zakk (Black Label Society) Wylde
LENNON – Liam (Oasis) Gallagher
NESTA – Bob Marley’s original name was a middle name choice of Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale.
THELONIOUS (Monk) – Mitch (Crash Test Dummies) Dorge
WOLFGANG (Amadeus Mozart) – Eddie Van Halen

But M.I.A., we think you should diverge from the pack by naming your baby after someone cool, dead, and female, such as Janis JOPLIN or Billie HOLIDAY (for a boy), or maybe BESSIE Smith or DINAH Shore, for a girl.

Name Your Baby After Royalty, A Deity, Or A Mythical Figure

The following choices are already taken by your fellow rappers and rockers:

KING – Rapper T.I., aka T.I.P, aka Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr.
MARQUISE – 50 Cents
MESSIAH – T.I.
NEVAEH – Christian rocker Sonny P.O. D. Sandoval launched a craze when he named his daughter heaven spelled backwards.
PRINCE – Michael Jackson reportedly named two of his sons Prince.
SINDRI – This Norse name meaning “mythical dwarf” was the choice of Bjork.
TENZIN – The first name of the Dalai Lama was chosen by Beastie Boy Adam Yauch.

Still up for grabs: BUDDHA.  Advantages: Works for either a boy or a girl, and as far as we know, there’s only one.

Name Your Baby After A Place

Most rockers and rappers have named their babies after the kind of back alley, hardscrabble places they might play if they hadn’t made it big.

ALABAMA — Travis (Blink 182) Barker and Shooter Jennings both picked this name.
BRONX – Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson went all out for attention with this one.
BROOKLYN – Posh Spice used this for her first son with David Beckham.
HEAVEN – L’il Mo
KINGSTON – Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale named their older son for the city in Jamaica, mon.
MEMPHIS – Bono
ZUMA – Stefani and Rossdale chose the name of a California beach for their younger son.

But why go there, and we mean that literally?  You’ve had a fascinating and peripatetic life, that might inspire the following place name choices: LONDON, INDIA, or SRI LANKA.

Choose The Name Of A Food Or Spice

Food names have attracted much notoriety, especially:

APPLE – Infamous choice of Chris Martin and, you know, Gwynnie.
PEACHES HONEYBLOSSOM – Bob Geldof was an early celebrity crazy baby namer, and Peaches is not all grown up and talking on TV about how much she hates her name.
SAFFRON – Simon Le Bon
SAGE – Lars (Metallica) Ulrich

Our tip: Choose a name that represents a food you love.  CHOCOLATE, maybe?  MINT, or MELON?

Name Your Baby After A Thing, Any Thing

Many musicians have made selections from the vast world of word names, for example:

BAMBOO – One of the most outrageous word names, by Big Boi of Outkast.
CROSS – Another Big Boi pick; no coy Cruz for this guy.
CYPRESS – Sol.
KARMA – Ludacris.
PUMA – Erykah Badu
STORY — Sol & Ginuwine, though this one is a pan-Hollywood favorite.
ZEPPELIN – Jonathan (Korn) Davis

Our ideas for a word name?  Hard to narrow it down to one choice, but you may want to sing it like it is and just name him or her F.A.M.O.U.S.