Best Starbaby Names of 2013: Scout, Sage and McCartney
By Linda Rosenkrantz
We haven’t quite kissed 2013 goodbye yet, but we’re close enough to have gotten a pretty good picture of the year’s celebrity baby naming landscape, enough to pick out our personal faves—and to give you the reasons why. Here are our Top 12 choices—some from A-list celebs, others who are not so well known—from the worlds of film, TV and sports.
Winnie Rose—Jimmy and Nancy Fallon went up to the attic to pick this vintage treasure. Turns out the name was chosen by the couple in honor of the lake where they frequently vacationed and even got engaged at: New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee, but, said Fallon, ‘Winnipesaukee’s a little long, Also, she’s a ‘win’ for us. He added that the Wonder Years connotation makes the name even better –“Winnie is the coolest girl on TV ever.”
Cricket Pearl—Busy Philipps’s second daughter sister followed Birdie Leigh—making a quirky pair that’s not to everyone’s taste, but which I find adorable. Though as someone quipped, “After Cricket’s birth, Philipps expressed concern about 5-year-old Birdie’s adjustment, most likely because she realized birds eat crickets.”
Lotus Elodie—Randy and Leah Spelling gave this name to their second daughter, the cousin of Stella, Liam, Hattie and Finn via Aunt Tori. Lotus is an interestingly exotic flower name, Elodie a Nameberry fave, together making a nice pairing with sister Sage Aurelia.
McCartney Charles—American Idol finalist singer Chris Sligh is obviously a Beatles fan—his daughter has the middle name of Lennon. It’s always good to see a new Mc-name on board, and this one certainly has strong pop cultural connections.
Isis Sidney—TV cupcake maven Katherine Kallinis Berman looked back to ancient mythology to pick the evocative name of the supreme Egyptian goddess of the moon and sky, motherhood and fertility. Once considered outré, Isis has entered the realm of mortal possibility.
Beatrix Belle—Australian radio host Fifi Box chose this adorable combo for her daughter, who’s to be known as Trixie Belle Box. We love the energetic Beatrix, and the B-B alliteration makes it even livelier.
Scout Margery—This combo was chosen by volleyball pros Kerri Walsh and Casey Jennings; we like the upstanding Scout for both girls and boys, and Margery (the name of Kerri’s mother), adds a nice feminine touch. One of Scout’s siblings is a brother named Sundance
Sage Lavinia—Actor Jack Huston is right on trend with this unisex spice name; Lavonia trims Sage with vintage lace. Tony Kanal’s Saffron Rose would make a nice playmate.
Doone Isla—Olympic gold medalist swimmer Amanda Beard and photographer husband Sacha Brown have come up with a lovely windswept, appropriately beachy, pair of names.
Everest Hobson—Talk about an aspirational, climb-the-highest-mountain -type name! This name was chosen by George Lucas and wife Mellody Hobson. It’s right in step with all the Everetts and Everlys (a Channing Tatum pick) out there.
Elsie Marigold—As we’ve noted before, Elsie is definitely back, having shed any lingering Borden’s associations. Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd and wife Alice Evans created this felicitous combo—Marigold is one of the freshest flower names—but we wonder if Elsie isn’t a bit matchy-matchy with older sister Ella?
Valor—Kudos to adventurous actor Emile Hirsch for coming up with one of the most creative names of the year, proving that boys can have virtue names too!
And a Nice Namesake Award to Vince Vaughn for passing along his father’s name Vernon Lindsay to his son, and keeping up the family tradition of V-names: Vince’s sisters are Victoria and Valerie.
Among our least favorites: Holly Madison’s Rainbow Aurora.
The Gender-Bending Trend:
If there was one clear-cut trend, I’d say it was the extreme gender-bending we’ve seen this year. The one that garnered the most attention is of course that of poor little North West—who was hastily given the nickname Nori to deflect some of the adverse reactions coming her way. But it definitely made for a gender direction change, following in the path of Elizabeth Rohm’s little girl Easton, born a few years ago. Some others:
Lincoln Bell—Given the serious, bearded image of this presidential name, it was a major surprise when Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard bestowed it on their daughter. Bell explained the choice to Jay Leno by saying that Dax always wanted to name his first son Lincoln, and they just decided to stick with it.
Phaedra Bloom Forever—When your name is Peaches Honeyblossom, and you have sisters named Fifi Trixiebelle, Pixie and Tiger Lily, obviously anything goes in terms of naming, so why hesitate about giving your son the name of a Greek feminine mythological character?
Juno—Another Greek goddess became masculinized when banjo player Béla Fleck (named after composer Béla Bartók) and wife Abigail Washburn called their boy Juno—a name currently on the rise for girls.
Justice Jay–Just as boys are beginning to reclaim some virtue names for themselves, TV actor Jensen Ackles and wife Danneel used this one for their daughter, nicknamed JJ.
Sterling Diane—Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller named her daughter Sterling. Hoping for a silver medal? Then why not Goldie?
Rio Laura– Oliver Hudson and Erinn Bartlett gave Wilder and Bodhi’s baby sister the traditionally male river name Rio.
Hero Peregrine—Though the Hero of Greek myth was a woman, this name makes an easy gender switch. Actress Cree Summer’s other daughter is called Brave Littlewing, and Summer also has a brother called Rainbow.
How about you? What was your favorite starbaby name this year?