Middle Names: Thinking Outside the Box

There’s no doubt that middle names have been taking on increasing  importance in the hearts and minds of  baby namers.  They’ve stepped up from the inconsequential connectives –especially for girls–of a generation or two ago to full co-starring roles on the birth certificate.  For many, it’s a welcome opportunity to honor a family member, preserve a maiden name, or use as a solid alternative for their child to possibly choose to use later on.

But for others, it’s place to be whimsical, to salute a creative hero, to use a favorite word or nature name they wouldn’t dare to put in first place.  For examples of how this works, we need only to look to the stars, those beacons of extreme–if not bizarre– baby naming.  So here are some nature, namesake, word and lovey-dovey endearment middle names they have used, followed by the name of the celebrity parent who chose it and their child’s first name:

NATURE NAMES

BEAR (Anthony Kiedis’s Everly)

CRICKET (Amy Locane’s Paige)

HUCKLEBERRY (Kimberly Williams & Brad Paisley‘s William)

PINE (Simon Le Bon’s Tallulah)

PLUM (Moon Unit Zappa’s Matilda)

RAIN (Brooke Burke & David Charvet’s Heaven)

RAINBOW (Jamie Oliver‘s Petal Blossom)

TULIP (Rebecca Romijn & Jerry O’Connell‘s Charlie Tamara)

NAMESAKES–real and fictional

COLTRANE (Natascha McElhone’s Rex)

HENDRIX (Donnie Wahlberg’s Elijah)

ICARUS (Lucy Sykes’ Titus Jasper)

KAFKA (Tommy Lee Jones‘ Victoria)

KIPLING  (Kim Raver’s Leo)

MADONNA (Geri Halliwell’s Bluebell)

MARS (Sofia Coppola’s Romy)

MOWGLI (Ashlee Simpson & Pete Wentz’s Bronx)

ZHIVAGO (Nia Long‘s Massai)

WORD NAMES

BEBOP  (Michael Balzay’s Sunny)

BRAVERY (Talisa Soto & Benjamin Bratt’s Mateo)

CRIMEFIGHTER  (Penn Jillette‘s Moxie)

GOLDEN (Angela Bassett & Courtney B. Vance‘s Bronwyn)

HALCYON (Lauren Ambrose‘s Orson)

HAVEN (Dylan Walsh‘s Stella)

INSPEKTOR  (Jason Lee‘s Pilot)

PAINTER (Chad Lowe‘s Mabel)

ROCKET (Tom de Longe’s Jonas)

SCIENCE (Shannyn Sossaman’s Audio)

SONG  (Brett Scallions’ Jagger)

STORY (Minnie Driver’s Henry)

TERMS OF ENDEARMENT

BOO  (Jamie Oliver‘s Daisy)

HONEY (Jamie Oliver‘s Poppy and Kate Winslet’s Mia)

NOO  (Amanda de Cadenet & John Taylor‘s Atlanta)

SWEETHEART  (Tobey Maguire‘s Ruby)