If you were to go solely by the tabloids, you might think that every celebrity’s baby boy was given the name of a New York borough or a Disney character or was his parents’ quirky Scrabble-letter invention.
Au contraire.
There is a very healthy segment of show biz parents who are creating a major backlash to this trend–either that or they just like conservative, classic names. Instead of screaming ‘Hey-look-at-me!’ (and my mama), these names provide a sort of protective coating against that kind of often mocking attention, a layer of dignity and tradition.
Evidence? Here, just looking at boys born since the Millenium, are some of the timeless classics, in their complete, traditional forms, that have been recent celebrity choices–not that they always succeeded in making their bearers paparazzi-proof. (And, by the way, I’d be interested to know if you think the preference for this kind of name relates to the celeb’s own personal or public image.)
ALEXANDER — Naomi Watts & Liev Schreiber, Lauren Holly, Wolfgang Puck
CHARLES — Russell Crowe, Chris O’Donnell, Cynthia Nixon, Emily Robison
CHRISTIAN — Marc Anthony, Pete Sampras
DAVID — Mo’Nique, J. K. Rowling
FRANK — Diana Krall & Elvis Costello
FREDERICK — Mayim Bialik
GEORGE — Kristin Scott-Thomas, Eva Herzigova
HENRY — Heidi Klum & Seal, Julia Roberts, Emily Robison, Rachel Weisz, Jack White & Karen Elson, Minnie Driver, Norah O’Donnell, Steve Zahn
JACK — Matt Lauer, Joan London
JAMES — Sarah Jessica Parker & Matthew Broderick, Isaac Hanson, Colin Farrell, Kirk Cameron & Chelsea Noble
JOHN — Bono, Vanessa Paradis & Johnny Depp, Bridget Moynahan & Tom Brady, Julie Bowen, Nancy Grace, Lauryn Hill & Rohan Marley
JOSEPH — Tracy Lords, Cathy Moriarity
SAMUEL — Naomi Watts & Liev Schreiber, Jack Black, Elizabeth Vargas
THOMAS — Jack Black, Dennis Quaid
WILLIAM — Kimberly Williams & Brad Paisley, Mary Louise Parker & Billy Cruddup, Clay Walker
In addition–though it’s not quite the same thing–there are the nickname versions, like Kate Winslet’s Joe and Charlie Sheen’s Bob, and the not-so-timeless semi-classics like Rainn Wilson’s Walter. And of course, there are the female equivalents–Amanda Peet’s Frances, Kelly Martin’s Margaret–but that’s for another time.
Linda Rosenkrantz
Linda Rosenkrantz is the co-founder of Nameberry, and co-author with Pamela Redmond of the ten baby naming books acknowledged to have revolutionized American baby naming. You can follow her personally at Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. She is also the author of the highly acclaimed New York Review Books Classics novel Talk and a number of other books.