At 16 years old, Peaches Geldof (or Peaches Honeyblossom Michelle Charlotte Angel Vanessa Geldof) made a strong plea to celebrities to stop giving their children weird names. She said: "I hate ridiculous names; my weird name has haunted me all my life
Peaches is the daughter of Sir Bob Geldof and the late Paula Yates and actually, she probably got of lightly her sisters are called Fifi Trixibelle, Pixie and Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily (her half sister from her mums relationship with the late Michael Hutchence).
Peaches made a bold statement against the very strange concept of celebrity baby names. Others have quietly rebelled against their celebrity parents by trying to become much more ordinary. Zowie, son of David Bowie, changed his named to Joe (I mean, Zowie Bowie? Cmon!) and Keith Richards daughter Dandelion is simply known as Angela to her friends.
But why do celebrities go to such (sometimes) extremes when naming their children? Who knowsperhaps its to do with artistic temperament that causes talented people to think and behave in outrageous, leftfield ways, or perhaps its part of the whole, very insular and selfish celebrity psyche that often drives these people. Psychologist Cleveland Kent Evans, who studies names and their social effects, thinks its the former and explains that it is a kind of self-reinforcing phenomenon. He points out that its mainly musicians, actresses and to some extent the visual artists or others who want to be thought of as creative - who give those sorts of names to their children. You don't find the politicians and athletes giving names like that to their kids," he says.
Quite. That probably explains why Rob Morrow, of "Northern Exposure" fame, named his baby daughter Tu (Tu-Morrow geddit?). This is just a personal opinion, but isnt this just a case of someone trying to be a little too clever? It sounds like an idea that a would-be parent would come up with as a joke and then dismiss in 30 seconds; I know, lets call her Tu! - Tu Morrow, ha, ha, ha! Instead the poor girl has now been saddled with a lifetime of problems, comments and sniggers Gee, thanks Mom and Dad!
But maybe Im being too harsh; experts say that children's names can have both positive and negative social consequences, but these are not as important to their well-being as other factors, such as their relationship with their parents. And its also true that the weirdness of a name really depends on your individual perspective. Some celebrity baby names have an almost beautifully-ugly quality to them, e.g. Tallulah, the daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, or Puma, daughter of Erykah Badu. And some celebrities really get it right, with some cool and unusual names, e.g., Alaia, daughter of Stephen Baldwin and Amandine, daughter of John Malkovich.
But what are the weirdest celebrity kids names? Well, Pilot Inspektor, son of Jason Lee and Beth Riesgraf, seems to come near the top of most lists, as does Audio Science son of Shannyn Sossaman and Dallas Clayton. But the (almost) universally accepted weirdest name is Moon Unit, daughter of the late, great Frank Zappa. The poor girl probably had no choice but to follow her chosen career as an actress who would take a lawyer called Moon Unit Zappa seriously?
In truth, the whole Zappa clan reigns supreme in the world of weird celebrity baby names; Moon Units siblings are Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan and Diva Muffin. But whats the best way to avoid getting caught up in the whole celebrity baby name circus? Well you could just name them after yourself I mean name ALL of them after yourself! George Foreman, former World Heavyweight boxing champion (and grilling machine magnate), has named his children George Junior, George III, George IV, George V, George VI, Freeda George and Georgetta. But hey, he is an athlete after allno creativity these people! |
