What's in a name?

  

After three girls, Chef Jamie Oliver is the proud father to his first son called, wait for it...

Buddy Bear Maurice. I don't know what to say, though should I really be surprised? Having named his daughter's Poppy Honey, Daisey Boo and Petal Blossom, it's obvious that Paul, Anthony or Luke would't have had a look in. What is it with celebrities that they have to choose such random names for their children? Especially when the majority of them have “normal” names themselves. What is the thinking process behind this? Is this a new craze among the social elite? Is it an obsession for their offspring to be as famous as the single named, globally recognised individuals, such as Madonna and Cher? Or in a world with roughly 6,869,100,000 inhabitants (estimate from Wikipedia) are they just exercising their creative rights, sticking a finger up to conformism?

To be fair to Jamie and the missus, their children’s names are pretty bland compared to these...

• Audio Science: Shannyn Sossamon
• Kal-El Coppol: Nicholas Cage (Kal-El is Superman’s original birth name)
• Sage Moonblood and Seargeoh: Sylvester Stallone and Sasha Czack
• Satchel: Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee

Squash these names together and it will form the new advert for Rowntree's Randoms.

My version:

“Hello my little Sergeoh, this new drink of Sage Moonblood tastes like Audio Science, though if I’m lucky, it could turn me into Kale-EL Coppol and then I would be more than a Satchel”.

The original:

When you have money you can call your child what you like, because either way they will be alright. However not all people with weird names were products of famous mummy’s and daddies. Take Tiger Woods for example, he came from humble beginnings and now is a multi-millionaire. Who would have thought that a silly sounding name in childhood and lets face it, the continuous displays of snarling teeth, roaring sounds accompanied by claw hand movements, that I suspect he encountered, would grow up to become a tiger on the green and well... a tiger in the bedroom?


His international success, in my eyes is even more special due to his unique name, which in this instance is a creative blessing as his name fits the field he is in. Tiger on the green sounds fab, but not so fab if Tiger ended up being an employee at the local bank. With a name like that would he have even been employed? I may sound shallow but I am being realistic, as judgements are made way before the interviewing process begins, whether consciously or unconsciously it starts with the name at top of the CV or application form.


So what is in a name? I believe language is important, how you describe/label yourself gives an indication to who you are and what you think of yourself. Hopefully parents would have given some serious thought into the name that extends beyond adding a few Q’s, W’s and apostrophes in odd places, which Americans seem to love, evidenced in names such as Shanqueia and La’Quanda.


Take Erykah Badu’s children for example, Seven Sirius, Puma Sabti and Mars Merkaba, they are evidently unique names that contain an element of coolness and obvious meaning, though not known to me. Knowing that you are the first and only person with a name like that must feel amazing. I say this because on Facebook alone there are 449 Lisa Bent’s which I am quite upset about, I’m sure Freud would have something to say about this but anyway... the point I am trying to make is, does an unusual name give you an advantage in the confidence stakes? or does a parent’s creative inventiveness serve as an embarrassment for their child who may feel pressurised to live up to their name or defend it? Who knows? Perhaps I should ask Buddy Bear on his 21st Birthday!


On the flipside, I am forced to remember the many grown men who are called Devante, as a result of their mother’s fascination with 90’s American Boy group Jodeci. The two that I know, have chosen to use their more classic middle names instead. An unusual name can be fabulous only if it remains unique. I am no expert but I predict that this planet now contains quite a few Brooklyn’s and Beyonce’s which for me loses the essence of what was once unique.


Either way I guess it would seem that being unique can be a good thing but it is good to remember that children grow up. A name may sound cute at 5 years old but will it have the same tone at 19 years old and beyond? Parents may want their children to stick out, though in the early years a child’s whole being seems to be based around fitting in. So should parents be more considerate? Whilst there will never be a right or wrong answer I am contemplating that perhaps a celebrity doesn’t need to be considerate because their children will already have a fighting chance in life. Whereas the less well of need a fighting chance and it could be begin with a less creative name.


Shakespeare said “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. Meaning it is not the name that matters, but what something is. I agree, though the reality is children can be cruel and the world is not equal when it comes to judgements.


For more weird and wonderful names click here:
http://www.babble.com/celebrity/celebrity-style/33-worst-celebrity-baby-names/


Related Posts:
1.Give to Get
2.Whats Love got to do with it?
3.Under age and Having Sex
 © 2010 Lisa Bent