Having a famous parent guarantees fame for a child. Find out how some celeb parents have gone ahead and made their children's names unusual.
What is your first thought when the newspapers announce that a celebrity is going to welcome a new baby into the family? Chances are, you will wonder what the new arrival is going to be named. Nowadays, celebrities have turned baby names into a whole new art. It is not just enough for their children to be known through the world right from birth. These children also wind up getting names that are guaranteed to make them stand out right from day one. Here are some examples of names that have been given to celeb babies.
The Normal Ones
Not all celebrities give their children unusual names. There is a small section of famous personalities who are quite content to give their newborns regular sounding names. For example, actor Pierce Brosnan (of James Bond fame) and his wife, model Keely Shaye Smith, have named their son Dylan Thomas. Actress Angelina Jolie is another celebrity child. Her father is the famous 70s actor Jon Voight.
Many celebrity children with normal names retain this trend when they grow up and have children of their own. Thus, Angelina Jolie has in turn named her three children Maddox, Zahara, and Shiloh. The third name is Jewish for peace. Another celebrity family is that headed by veteran actor Kirk Douglas. His son is the famous actor, Michael Douglas. Michael himself has three children, Cameron, Dylan, and Carys, with the latter being a Welsh name.
Closer to home, our own Bollywood stars give their children normal names as well. The most famous family is the Kapoors, headed by the legendary Prithviraj Kapoor. His sons were Raj, Shammi, and Shashi, all famous actors and filmmakers in their own right. The grandchildren Rishi, Randhir, Kunal, Karan, Rajiv, Sanjana, etc. too have typical Indian names. Even the fourth generation of Kapoor stars i.e. Kareena, Karisma, Ranbir, etc. have normal names.
The Unusual Names
The next category of celebrities is those who choose to give their children only slightly unusual names. These may be regular names with alternate spellings or names that are not very common. For example, actress Gywneth Paltrow is the daughter of the late Bruce Paltrow. She and her husband, musician Chris Robinson, have a daughter Apple, and a son named Moses. Therefore, the daughter is named for a fruit, while the son is named after a character in the Bible.
The Hippy movement was extremely popular in the United States during the sixties and seventies. As a result, many of the children born during these years wound up with unusual names. Singer Cher named her daughter Chastity and her son, Elijah Blue. Popular actor Joaquin Phoenix's first name is Leaf while his siblings are River, Rainbow Joan, and Liberty.
In the late nineties, a new trend was started of naming children based on the place where they were conceived. The most famous recipients of such names are the children born to members of the pop group Spice Girls. Mel B or Scary Spice named her daughter Phoenix Chi. Her group mate Victoria Beckham or Posh Spice named her son Brooklyn. Victoria Beckham is married to football star David Beckham, and they have two more sons, Romeo and Cruz. The youngest son's name is actually a Spanish name for a girl. This is because father David was so sure his third child was going to be a girl that he refused to consider any other name.
Some celebrities like to give their children distinct names, but want the names to have some special meaning. Thus arose the trend of combining the names of both parents to come up with a unique baby name. For example, pop star Peter Andre and model Jordan have named their new daughter Princess Tiaamii. The second name is a combination of the two grandmother's names. Peter's mother's name is Thea and Jordan's mother's name is Amy.
On the Indian scene, the most well known 'different' name is that of Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan. However, although the name was rare when the actor chose it for his son, it is one of the most popular names today. It is not uncommon to walk into a kindergarten class and find three or four boys with the same name.
Every move that a celebrity makes is observed. Therefore, when a celebrity names their child, they are not only giving their baby a name. They are also possibly starting a trend.
Are you curious about the names celebrities give their children? Do you know of any other unusual celebrity child names? What do you think of these naming trends? To share your views and experiences, click here.