Celebrity Baby Names: New Names in the Celebrisphere
Just when it seemed that the stormy seas of extreme celebrity baby names were calming down (you can see our comments on this at Celebrity Babies Blog), a new crop has come along introducing a whole bunch of innovative choices, ranging from the ridiculous to the semi-sublime:
BARDOT (first name of David Boreanaz’s daughter) Following in the footsteps of Harlow and other Hollywood sirens and sex kittens of the past(Dad Boreanaz admitted being inspired by a Brigitte Bardot poster), Bardot could easily fit in with the growing group of o-ending girls’ names: Juno, Lilo, Willow, etc.
BETSI (middle name of Ioan Gruffudd & Alice Evans’ daughter Ella). Much to my surprise, I find this new take on an old name—I’m not usually a big fan of changing y’s to i’s— appealingly fresh, cute and perky.
CZAR (middle name of Tisha–Campbell–Brown’s son Ezekiel). Powerboy #1. In Beyond Ava & Aidan we had an extensive list of strong, sometimes royal, boys’ names, but leave it to the creatif celeb community to come up with a few that escaped us.
ECHO (name of Nick Hexum’s daughter). Although it sounds like a modern word name, Echo actually goes back to ancient Greek myth, where she was a loquacious nymph who was forever distracting Juno, provoking him to take away her power to say anything original; and then she fell in love with Narcissus, who was incapable of loving anyone but himself, so that didn’t go too well. In modern times, Echo is the name of the lead character in Joss Wheden’s Dollhouse. Another prospective member of the new o-ending girls’ sorority.
GOLDIE (first name of Ione Sky & Ben Lee’s daughter). For a long time Goldie was more Sadie than Sadie—until Goldie Hawn came along and modernized and energized its image. And it does have that precious metallic gleam.
GREYSUN (name of Tyler Christopher’s son): We’ve heard Grayson and Graysen, Greyson and Grayson, and now there’s Greysun. Graysun can’t be far behind.
KILA (first name of Elaine Cassidy and Stephen Lord’s daughter). Though it’s a creative name with no discernable meaning, Kila would fit in fine with classmates Lila, Kylie and Kayla.
KNIGHT (first name of Kelis & Nas’s son). (Powerboy #2) Powerful but also chivalrous, it does, however, have the potential of being confused with its homonym Night.
LORD (middle name of Elaine Cassidy & Stephen Lord’s daughter Kila). The name itself has a double dose of potency—both noble and religious, which could have made it Powerboy #3, except that in this case it belongs to a girl. In an unusual switch, Lord, the dad’s surname, is placed in the middle, with the mother’s last name in final surname position.
MIDNIGHT (second middle name of Nicole Ritchie & Joel Madden’s son Sparrow). Dark!
NASH (first name of Cat Cora’s son). First heard widely in the early 90s TV show Nash Bridges, this is an English surname (think mathematician John, poet Ogden), with the soft ash sound reminiscent of Ashley and Ashton.
PRIYA (middle name of Ione Skye & Ben Lee’s daughter Goldie). This Indian name meaning ‘beloved one’ in Sanskrit belonged to the daughter of a King in Hindu legend. The two names form an unusual cross-cultural combo.
SPARROW (first name of Nicole Ritchie & Joel Madden’s son, brother of Harlow). This couple went to great lengths to balance the three names of their daughter and son, but Sparrow has proved a bit confusing to some who had considered this avian name to be feminine.
WEST (first name of Marley Shelton’s daughter). West has been one direction celebrity names have been going in since Tea Leoni and David Duchovny named their daughter Madelaine West and began calling her by her middle name.
YATES (middle name of Megyn Kelly’s son Edward) A solid surname choice with possible family connections and a poetic link to William Butler Yeats; Megyn has been quoted as saying that this is the name her son will be known as.
Do you think any of these will catch on?