The Name Game: Celebrity Babies with Celebrity Names

Flynet; Mike/Fame; Ahmad Elatab-SaleemElatab/Splash News Online – Ava Jackman, Everly Kiedis, Harlow Madden

For many people the name ‘Ava’ conjures up images of iconic film star Ava Gardner but for others, the likes of Ava Phillippe, 9 ½, Ava Jackman, 3 ½, and Ava Sambora, 11 ½, immediately come to mind.

The lines of stardom have been blurred ever since celebrities began relying on their peers – both past and present – for inspiration in choosing baby names, according to nameberry.com developer Linda Rosenkrantz. And while the glow of Hollywood Golden Age glamour is most obviously reflected in the ”soaring popularity” of an Ava, Linda says there are plenty of other examples to choose from.

She singles out Grace (Kelly), Sophia (Loren), Audrey (Hepburn) and even Tallulah (Bankhead), the latter of which appears to be experiencing an upswing; After being first used by Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, it has more recently been chosen by celebrity dads Philip Seymour Hoffman, Damon Dash and Simon LeBon.

For some celebrities, this trend is about more than just the name itself. Instead, it represents an opportunity to pay tribute to an artistic hero, such as Liam Gallagher with son Lennon, Maya Rudolph with daughter Pearl Bailey, Cindy Crawford with son Presley and Anthony Kiedis with son Everly. “It’s not just first names,” Linda notes. “Harlow is one of the hottest girls’ names around, used by Patricia Arquette, and then much publicized by Nicole Richie and Joel Madden’s little girl. On the boys’ side, Kevin Nealon gave his son the dashing surname Gable, and one of Ricky Martin’s twins is Valentino.”

More below!

New Hollywood is proving to be inspirational as well. Chyler Leigh raised eyebrows when she opted to name her third daughter Anniston, while Taylor Hanson chose Viggo for his third son and fourth child overall with wife Natalie. Although in both instances these celebrity parents said the celebrity namesake — Jennifer Aniston and Viggo Mortensen, respectively — played no role in the decision-making process, others admit differently. “Rev Run named his daughter Miley, the nickname created by Billy Ray Cyrus for his smiley baby Destiny Hope,” Linda explains, “and … Spice Girl Geri Halliwell gave full credit to her idol when she bestowed the middle name Madonna on her little Bluebell.” So what are the pros and cons to drawing from the red carpet crowd when naming your baby? Linda notes,

“A name like Miley — which is growing in popularity — will pretty much date stamp your daughter as a child of the Hannah Montana era, but choosing the name of one of your own personal heroes of the past can prove meaningful and inspirational.”

In addition to her work with nameberry.com, Linda has co-authored ten baby-naming books with Pamela Satran. Their newest title, Beyond Ava & Aiden, will become available in a few weeks.

– Missy

Would you or have you given your baby a Hollywood-inspired name? Why or why not?

Comments

….choosing the name of one of your own personal heroes of the past can prove meaningful and inspirational.”

Well put Linda!

We have twin Daughters: Dylan & Marley, and our son is Van.

We love the arts!

- Jessica on June 2nd, 2009

I really love the name Harrison and when I have mentioned it to friends, they immediately say “After Harrison Ford?”

No, it’s actually after my own father and grandfather!

I think with most names you can come up with a Hollywood namesake, but names like Sophia & Grace are quite “ordinary” compared to the likes of Harlow and Presley….

- Em on June 2nd, 2009

I have an Ava. But thank God she was born in early 2003, and not later. Prior to her being born, I never met an Ava, and the only one I ever heard of was Ava Gardner. Well now every place we go, there are a ton of Avas, but they are much younger than my DD. We are African-American, and the name is not popular in our community. I chose it because it’s classy, timeless, and it’s means “to live or to breath” in Hebrew. Her middle name is old French for freedom. So put them together and you get “to live in freedom”. I love that meaning.

- Ronnie on June 2nd, 2009

Well it depends who and why your naming them after them. Perhaps it’s because their name is unique or because you find them to be a really inspirational person. I can’t see myself naming my son/daughter something simply because I’m a fan of that person however if they have been somewhat influential in my life then yes I guess I can see it.

I prefer unique non common names but none that are too outrageous or far fetched. I’m not out to get attention or to have my child have years of ridicual for a name I chose to gave them simply cause mommy had to be “different.”

The only names in hollywood I’d ever consider would be Levi, Ryder, and Harlow. But because celebrities have named their children that those names are probably on the rise which makes me want to select them even less! But I would much rather honor one of my deceased relatives with their names incorporated into my childs then to select a name of someone else whom I don’t know or never met.

- JMO on June 2nd, 2009

Jessica, did you plan your daughters’ names regardless of whether they were 2 girls, 2 boys or a boy and a girl? Just curious.

- Alice on June 2nd, 2009

I do love classic names that will remind people of an iconic actor or singer.
I have been a huge fan of Bob Marley for many many years and had always wanted to have either Marley or Nesta in it.
Same with Lionel Richie, I love the name Richie.

- Sammy-xx on June 2nd, 2009

I have a Kingston. She was the only Kingston people close to us knew until Gwen Stefani’s boy was born. My girl is older than Gwen’s children but people still ask me if I’m a Stefani fan and if I got the name idea from her. Her father was from Jamaica and was going to name her Jamaica Alexis but out of nowhere he decided to give her the name of the capital. It’s pretty boyish but fits her to a t and deep down I believe my Kingston is a little celebrity on her own right,famous name or not =).

- eva on June 2nd, 2009

we have a niece called Marli, 7 mths old over in Australia, we’re in Nz, and first thing we thought of was the singer but didn’t htink of it as much on a girl(and now the dog from the movie, which puts me off) not as keen personally, prefer it for a boy but she has an older daughter called Tahlia and really liked that name as not as unisex, but she’s their baby, so their choice. Not sure why but I like Dylan on a girl for some reason as that’s generally a boy’s name, so am contradicting myself perhaps, lol, just the ring to it… Ava’s cute but very popular/common now, and love the name Harlow too. I don’t go by who named them, not based on someone I’m more interested in or an admirer of – it’s whether it’s a nice name, but not too cruel and out-there and can be used at most ages/stages of life. Doesn’t Chyler Leigh have a boy called Noah and two girls, not three girls?! – 3 girls for her are mentioned above in article…

- Sam & Freya's Mum on June 2nd, 2009

It’s not that I look to celebrities for names, its just that they have such great taste! I love the names Honor and Harlow, Emery and Shiloh! Would I use them? We are considering a few of them, but not because celebrities use them, but because they were brought to our attention, incidentally by a celebrity. Chances are if I had found the name Harlow in a book I would love it just as much as I do with Nicole naming her daughter that.

- VEO on June 2nd, 2009

Some celeb names are nice. I liked Tallulah after Bruce and Demi’s daughter.

I’m naming my first child Mischa Ann Brooke and it’s not after Mischa Anne Barton- it’s after a former professor of mine, Mischa Ann! Even people pronounce her after the actress (my professor is “MISH-SHA” not “Mee-sha” like the actress) so I guess I’m destined to have a child pronouncing her name all the time to other people.

- Taylor on June 2nd, 2009

We have a Jude and yes it came from The Beatles song and we have a Riley, but when I named her that it was not at all popular for little girls and her middle name cam from a book, Light a Penny Candle, it is Aisling (Ash-leen). So I guess we have a little celeb in our house too.

- hermowninny on June 2nd, 2009

I like popular, classic & biblical names. Popularity doesn’t bother me one bit.

- Alex on June 2nd, 2009

We had different names for Boys:)
It took some convincing to get the hubby on board with Dylan but after throwing it around for a couple months he couldnt imagine not having “bob-see” twins…we are also super cheesy:)

- Jessica on June 2nd, 2009

My great-grandmother was Mahaila and my mom’s name is Jean so I have always loved the name my daughter Mahayla-Jean. By I just realize that people will think that I combined Mahalia Jackson the famous gospel singer and Billie Jean from Michael Jackson….
I also like the name Micah for a girl, Ashley for a boy and I’m Angelina Jolie fan so I would like to bestow “Jolie” on one of my children.

P.S.
To Jessica I completely love the names you gave your children. They are unique but not completely out there.

- Tiffany on June 2nd, 2009

My husband and I planned to name our children after the birthplaces of our parents. My husband’s father was grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, and my mother was born in Kimberley, BC; Victoria Kimberley was a no-brainer name for us!

With our son, it was a little trickier. My father grew up in Westoe, South Shields, UK, and my husband’s mother was born in Chatham, Massachusetts. We changed Westoe to Weston, but we were still wary about using Chatham as a middle name at first, because we’ve never of it used before. But it grew on us more and more, and now I love it! Everyone comments on the name Weston Chatham; unique, elegant and strong.

Even if names seem a little off beat, if your child is named after something dear to you and very meaningful, like family, not Hannah Montana, then go for it!

- Stacia on June 2nd, 2009

Jessica I love how you chose a more masculine name for your daughter! We’ve been tossing around Ryan or Noa for a girl

- VEO on June 2nd, 2009

The only uncommon names in Hollywood I like are Ceil and Kaia.

- alexia kaelyn on June 3rd, 2009

I don’t see anything wrong with naming your children after celebrities. Nancy O’Dell said she got a lot of flack for naming her daughter Ashby. She told Howard Stern that she didn’t care because her and her husband liked the name and it had meaning to them. (LOVE the name Ashby, by the way.) I don’t usually like names that are too popular, but I am still set on the name Jackson Alexander for a boy. Even though both names are pretty popular.

That being said, a line should be drawn somewhere. There was an article (sorry, can’t find a link for it) about a couple living in Iowa/Idaho, I think, that was suing the local grocery store because they wouldn’t put their son’s name a his birthday cake. His name was Adolph Hitler Campbell. His younger sisters were Josselyn Aryan Nation Campbell and Hinler Campbell. That isn’t okay, in my opinion. (I know Hitler and Hinler aren’t really celebrities in Hollywood, but they are known historical figures.)

- Sarah M. on June 3rd, 2009

We named our boys Bogart James, Newman Dean and Brando Elvis. In honor of our favorite classic movie stars of the 1950′s, James Dean, Humphrey Bogart, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, and my husbands favorite Elvis Presley.

- Jessi on June 3rd, 2009

Stacie – love your son’s name!

- Whitney on June 3rd, 2009

Considering that in Latin countries it’s more popular for parents to name their daughters Valentina, Salma Hayek’s daughter’s middle name, and their sons Valentino I highly doubt that Ricky Martin really named one of his boys after the designer. Granted that he has mentioned before that he likes the designer’s work it just does not seem possible that is who his son is named after.

- TV on June 3rd, 2009

I absolutely adore the name Audrey, and yes, in part due to Audrey Hepburn. She had such grace and class. But I also think the name has a lovely old fashioned sweetness to it, and reminds me of the actresses of the Golden Era (like Grace Kelly). To that end, I would love to name my daughter Audrey Grace. Future baby daddy might have to have some say though (sigh).
I quite like Ever (or Everly) for a girl, although I don’t know if I’d actually use it. Same goes for Harlow (have liked it since Patricia Arquette used it), Marley, Mariah, Levi, Milo and Seraphina.

- Maddie on June 3rd, 2009

I went to school with an Emery (spelt Emerie), and while I like the name. kind of reminds me of an emery board (nail file), lol.

- Maddie on June 3rd, 2009

I like the more ‘normal’ hollywood names such as Violet and even Clementine, but I think that when bestowing a name onto your child you really have to think about what it will be like for the child to grow up with that name; if it will fit a 40 year old as well as a little baby.

Having said that, I’m planning to name my son James Logan, and I only recently found out that those were the first and middle name of Marvel’s Wolverine character (as portrayed recently by Hugh Jackman in X-Men Origins: Wolverine). I didn’t know this before, but I would never consider changing the names because of this. Just a funny coincidence, I guess:)

- Kate on June 3rd, 2009

My daughter’s name is Sofia. I first began considering it when I was about 6 months pregnant and watching Leah Remini’s “Inside Out: Baby Special”, and she and Angelo were trying to pick a name. Prior to that we were trying to decide on which of our grandmother’s names to use as her first name (Catherine or Jane). But I felt Sofia was so timeless and beautiful that I really loved it. Especially Leah’s chosen spelling, which is the more Latin version. The downside is, being African American and choosing a name not heard often in the community, is that it’s instantly assumed that I named her for the character in “The Color Purple”….and then the ensuing “Miz Sophia, Miz Sophia” comments. Outside of that, the constant corrections on the spelling…but I love my Sofie-bottom, so it worked out, regardless!!

- Morgan on June 3rd, 2009

My son’s name is Cyrus and we chose it because we like old fashioned farmer names. When he was born, Billy Ray Cyrus was no longer a huge star and Hannah Montana had not even started filming yet (also Con Air was a pretty old movie by then – remember John Malkovich’s character, Cyrus the Virus, lol). As much as we love the name – it suits him perfectly – I don’t think we would choose that name again because everyone would immediately think of Miley Cyrus. Luckily, she is still thought of as Hannah Montana by younger kids, so no-one has made the connection yet. Hopefully, by the time my son goes to middle school, Miley will no longer be either loved or hated by millions (it seems she is very polarizing) or he can just go by Cy.

- alabama on June 3rd, 2009

I personally love some of the names cropping up among celebrities, such as Harlow, Honor, Seraphina, Levi, and Everly. I like names that are uncommon, but not weird or unheard of. All 3 of my kids have a classic first name combined with a more uncommon middle name. They are Abigail Celeste, Terry Winstanley, and Kathryn Lorelei. The only one of my kids named after someone was my son, whose first and middle names are after my husband’s family. However, if I ever had another one, I would love to use Seraphina for a girl. And yes, I got it from Ben and Jen naming their daughter that-I would never have thought of it otherwise!

- Shannon on June 3rd, 2009

I wonder…
Do you think celebs have “people” to help out with baby names? Because there really are some beautiful names that I think “how in the world did they come up with that?” Like Shannon said she would’ve never thought of Seraphina if it wasn’t for Ben and Jen…

Just a thought.

- Lis on June 3rd, 2009

My daughter unfortunately ended up with a popular name that wasn’t (too) popular when I came up with it. Knowing her now, I would never change it. Her middle name is very classic and it flows well.

Addison Evangeline

I get alot of the “Evangeline after the chick from LOST.” No, I got it out of a book. It was the name I wanted to give her as a full name and call her “Evie.” Addison, i admit came from Grey’s Anatomy.

I didn’t think they name would catch on, but eventually it did.

I had many other names picked out: Liliana, Grace, Lorelei, Faith, Audrey, Avery, Noe’l, Cash, Cohen.

People are picky and most will Judge a name no matter what.
It’s your child, celebrity influence or not.

Now, when I have my next few children I may dabble in the “celebrity” name pool. I’ve always loved the name “Avery” for a girl and the middle name Leigh. Averleigh is what I came up with. Similar to Everleigh. I love both. But who’s to know what I will name my next.

I love names, I had a very, very popular name growing up. I hated it but I learned to Love it!

- Meghan on June 3rd, 2009

My sons name had influence. We named him Damien Edward. Damien after the boy in the Omen because I am an avid horror movie fan (and always have been since I was little). My family and friends all know me as the “horror movie fanatic.” Edward was my fathers name, who passed away when I was 16. There are too many Edward’s in my family so we didnt go with that as a first name. And I think Damien Edward goes together very well. It was between Damien Edward or Damien James cuz they both sound nice, but I had to honor my dad whom I loved very much. And now I can add Edward Cullen the vampire from Twilight.

If I ever have a girl I am naming her Carolanne Autumn after the little girl from Poltergeist, and Autumn is my favorite season! I hope I have a girl cuz I dont have any more names picked out for boys. Maybe Gage Creed.

But yeah, I dont see anything wrong with influences. Family names are too repetative. No offense to anyone who thinks otherwise lol.

- Irish on June 3rd, 2009

My son’s name is Zachary Samuel. I do not recall hearing of a Zachary in the celebrity world so that is cool. And I have heard of Sam’s and Samuel’s which is cool as well. We got Zachary after my husband’s best friend (who is also his godfather) and Samuel is my husband’s first name. So he is named after 2 people who are near and dear to our hearts! If we have a second child I would like to choose a name from my side of the family since we chose names that reflected my husband’s side with Zachary. For a boy I love Lennon (after John Lennon), Cash (after Johnny Cash), Jude (after The Beatles song), Logan (after Wolverine). For a girl I love Poe (after Edgar Allen Poe), Marlowe (after the writer Christopher Marlowe-he was a peer of Shakespeare), Lennon (after John Lennon), Lenore (after the work of Edgar Allen Poe), Raleigh (after Sir Walter Raleigh the poet), Annabel (after an Edgar Allen Poe poem entitled Annabel Lee).

- Carie on June 3rd, 2009

My son’s middle name is David after David Beckham because he was my first crush growing up and I loved everything about him, his looks, personality, and his stable marriage to Posh Spice- and it was something I wanted my son to embody and so I named him Pierre David Francis.

- babyboopie on June 3rd, 2009

Guess I am the opposite – there are names I have loved that I will no longer use because they have been made popular by celebs. Knox, Harlow and Seraphina were all on my list – but now they are not. So far my number ones are safe

- brannon on June 3rd, 2009

i dont have children yet (iam only 21) if i had a daughter one day i would love to name her Elissar after my favorite singer growing up eventhou her fame name was Elissa but i like Elissar more.

- Blackrose on June 3rd, 2009

My daughter’s name is Paris Victoria. She was born before Paris Hilton and she is constantly asked if she is named after her. I went to school w/ a Paris and have loved the name since I heard it. Victoria is after my sister Tori. My son’s name is Wyatt Christopher. Yes he is after Wyatt Earp. My husband and I love the movies Tombstone and Wyatt Earp. When Wyatt was first born he was the only Wyatt we knew of other then Goldie Hawn’s son. Now the name is becoming more popular which ok.

I like some celebrity names such as Harlow, Seraphina, Violet, and Addison (after Grey’s). There are some that I don’t like such as Zuma, Kingston (although I love their parent’s name Gwen & Gavin), Rocco, and Pax.

- Tara on June 3rd, 2009

I am going to pick names that I like and if celebrity babies have the same name, then so be it. Although every time I hear a new cute one, like Harlow, I have that “could’ve had a V-8 moment” when I think I should have thought of that one.

On my list now for girls are Audrey Grace and Lydia Louise. And for boys, William Daniel and Joseph Ryan.

Although I am loving Ryan for a little girl. It was my brother’s name and he recently passed away.

- michelle on June 3rd, 2009

I love the name Sophia and would love to name my first daughter that. It’s not specifically because of Sophia Loren, or any other celebrity named Sophia (the only other one I can think of is Sophia Bush, who I am a fan of, but again, that’s not why I love the name). It does have an “old Hollywood” feel to it though, which I love, because I really like girly, classic names like Sophia or Lila. I also love the French name Amelie.

And for a boy, I’m stuck on the name Jackson, which suddenly seems to have become pretty popular. I saw on the sidebar of CBB the top 5 names for boys and girls right now, and Jackson was number 5 for boys, which surprised me. I knew it was gaining in popularity but I didn’t know to that extent. But I don’t think that just because a name is popular, it would deter me from naming my kid that. I first got the idea for Jackson from Jackson Pollock, because I love his paintings.

- alice jane on June 3rd, 2009

Meghan – I LOVE the name Addison. (I know a 4 year old named Adrielle, which I also love.) Averleigh is cute, too. Especially with the ‘leigh’ at the end.

Carie – I have heard of 6 celebs who have Zach’s. 1 is a step-son, 3 are Zachary’s, 1 Zachariah and 1 just Zack. I would never use the name myself, simply because the 4 or 5 Zach’s I’ve ever known have been beyond wild and hard to handle. But it is a cute name. Better than Ava (at least 20 celebs), Jackson (at least 20 celebs), etc.

When it comes down to it, their your kids, name them what you want! Who cares what anyone else thinks.

- Sarah M. on June 3rd, 2009

Tiffany that’s funny you say that. I have Jolie picked out for a middle name for one of my future girls but I decided to spell it different (either Joely or Joley) so that nobody actually thinks I named her after Angelina. And I truly am not that much of an Angie fan. I just happen to think that name flows really nice as a middle name to a few of my first name choices!! I know my family will rip me for it though.

- JMO on June 3rd, 2009

Veo – I met a little girl named Noa before. Kinda cute, go for it!

Sarah M. That story about the Adolf hitler boy came out of New Jersey. I’m from Philadelphia so it was all over our news for awhile. The kids actually got taken away from the family for other reasons. I think they got them back though. But I agree it was these parents who were bestowing their hate onto their children w/ those names, despite that they claimed they were not prejudice!

It’s funny how names that you like suddenly chanage once you hear them. I remember loving the name Jade (back when Will Smith named his son) but then the next thing you know everyone was naming their kid Jaden (as you can tell I no longer like the name). Then I really loved the name Isabella but everytime I turn around I hear that name (still beautiful but just one I can’t go with). The one name brought to my attention from a tv show was Sylas and Shane from Showtimes Weeds. I love both those boys names (for now)!

- JMO on June 3rd, 2009

Noa Ryan would be cute! We gave the ladies very girly middle names incase the wanted to have that option, the are also names in both ours families so it was perfect!

- Jessica on June 3rd, 2009

My baby girl is named Ava but only because we wanted something short and sweet and there were not a whole lot of them – now there are loads where i live – but all younger than our ava so thats good!
i love the names Dylan and Cameron (for girls) and Shane and Shea for boys.

- mamap on June 3rd, 2009

I have two girls, the first one is named after the goddess Freya from scandinavian mythology but the last one is named Keira, after Keira Knightley which I think is a great actress and a beautiful young lady and also have an old gaelic/irish/celtic name.

- lena on June 3rd, 2009

I have two children. My oldest is a boy, Ethan Alexander. I had a Cabbage Patch Kid as a child and his name was Alexander Damien. From the moment I got him (I think I was 8,) I knew if I had a son, he would be Alex. I really just liked Ethan. Not too many of either at the time…he’s almost 13. When my sister was pregnant we were going thru the baby names and I came across Addison. I loved it!! (never watched Grey’s) And so did she. She named her Macy Addison Jade, 2. When I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, I had to have an “A” name, because we had Alex and Addison, I didn’t want her to feel left out or different. I was looking through the names…Ava, Ainsley, Aiden, Aubry, Asia, Annika and then there it was….Amelia. I loved it from the moment I saw it. Very old fashioned, classy. And the best part was, that I knew no one with that name. Claire, her middle name, just blended well, plus my father in laws first name was Clarance. Amelia Claire is 19 months.

- melissa on June 3rd, 2009

Lis- Actually, Jennifer recently explained that, when she was pregnant, Violet kept referring to the baby as “Sarah” (even though they didn’t know the gender, at least at first). Then, when Seraphina was born, she was such an angelic baby right away. Seraphina means angel, so they decided to name her Seraphina.

Alex- I like classic and biblical names, too! For boys, I like Luke, James, Peter, Noah, William, and Mark. For girls, some of my favorites are Emma/Emily, Sarah, Anne/Anna, Eve/Eva, and Mary.

- CelebBabyLover on June 4th, 2009

Well i have two kids, and naming them was a tough one. We had a boy first and decided to name him Nevin Leery Raine, i saw the name nevin in a baby book and it just seemed sweet and different, and i was a dawsons creek fan, so thats where i got leery to. Our second child was a girl, and we named her Neira Lindley Raine (pronounced near a). I found her name searching online one day and came across names similar to neira, and thought it sounded original and different, and just saying Neira sounds pretty, Lindley also came from dawsons creek after jennifer lindley. Im hoping to have one more child in the 5 years. My boy Nevin is 4 and my girl Neira is 2. I like celeb baby names most of the time. I like names like honor, and harlow but are becoming more popular.

- lillyraine on June 4th, 2009

Thanks, JMO, for the additional information. I knew I had read it, but had forgotten the details. I had also heard that they had the children taken away. That was the last that I had heard, though. I, too, thought it was great how the father said that they weren’t prejudice. Someone commented directly to that article that Adolph is a common name in some places. I agree with that. As long as ‘Hitler’ isn’t added onto it.

I don’t mind the majority of boys names going to girls, but I do think that they should then be spelled differently. Makes for less confusion when you see the name before you meet the kid, I think! (boy/girl) Cameron/Camryn; Bobby/Bobbi; Noah/Noa; Charlie/Charley-Charlee; etc.

- Sarah M. on June 4th, 2009

I think celebrities try their hardest to come up with unique names and sometimes the results are absolutely fantastic. I happen to adore names like Violet, Harlow, and even Suri.

VEO, the name Noa is a good choice. Just an added fact: Noa is also a Japanese name for girls. It can have different meanings like 乃愛 “of love” or even 希空 “sky of hope”. Very beautiful to me. Ryan is a pleasant choice as well. It seems to make a great name for both boys and girls.

I don’t have any children yet, but I plan on being creative, yet not completely outrageous.

- Leyla on June 4th, 2009

I have three kids – I wanted “normal” but uncommon names that meant something to us. My 1st – a girl- is Gabrielle Marigail. Gabrielle means “heroine of God” and Marigail in a combo of my MIL’s name & my mom’s middle name. Hope she doesn’t hate me for it later! My 2nd – a son – Maxwell Bennett. I loved the name Max but am now hating that it’s gotten so popular with the Celeb’s. My 3rd – another son- is Zane Alexander. Zane is the English version of John which is my husband’s 1st name and my grandparents are from Zanesville, OH. I thought it was a cool way of referencing both families. I love celeb babies names for the most part but hate when they get too far out there – Pilot Inspektor anyone?

- NickyG on June 5th, 2009

Some celebrity names to me seem too wild for my liking but each to his own. My husband and I liked for our three kids to have something that was nice(no picking on needed), family, and bibilical. They are Jessalynn Rebekah (Jessalynn is a combination of her grandmothers and great grandmother and Rebekah is from the Bible), Adam George (Adam is from the Bible and George is from a grandfather), and Cody Steven (Cody is in honor of my husbands friend who died when he was in college and Steven is from his daddy). I wanted their names to be something they would always be proud of and not hate when they were older.

- Sharon on June 5th, 2009

Leyla, thanks for the info! I love those meanings and will certainly be going with Noa!

- VEO on June 5th, 2009

i dont have any kids yet..i think im probably the youngest to comment here.. but u guys certainly gave me some ideas!all these names are so pretty. of course my future husband is probably going to have a say in names, but if i ever have a daughter, i would love to name her jacqueline claire (after my older cousin whos like a big sister, and claire i have know forever and she has taught me so much about what i love-theatre). after that i like veronica elise (after another cousin, and beethoven’s “fur elise”), carrie josephine (yes, after carrie underwood, and my moms mom- sometimes called josie) nicole joanne (one of my best friends, and my mom is joanne) and victoria helen (one of my best friends, and my dads mom whom i share a bday with- april 20:) ). for boys surely the first one would be angelo jordan, or aj (after my moms dad, and another one of my best friends) adam martin (after adam from the bible and martin is my dad), nicholas anthony (from the bible, and yeah, i guess nick jonas and anthony is my older brother) and probably william howard (after billy joel and the first person i ever really liked lol, and howard is my dads dad).. there are so many other names i love, but i dont wanna name my kids something just because i like the name. for me it needs some significance. some examples are: tyler, isabella (but i hate isabel/isabelle, i dont know why), ryan, taylor and sean/shaun/shawn (for both genders) and francesca. celeb baby names i love: harlow, kingston, honor, levi and seraphina. i personally was named after my dads older sister who died in the 1970s as a result of a car crash, and my parents just took out the “h”…and i agree- zacharys do tend to be wild and crazy!!

- Teresa on June 5th, 2009

NickyG-LOVE marigail! so unique and pretty!

- VEO on June 5th, 2009

Sharon – I love your kids’ names. Especially Jessalynn. Another I like that’s close is Jessamin. Different, but not crazy.

- Sarah M. on June 5th, 2009

Don’t worry about choosing only 2 names- choose as many as you wish! European & Catholic countries traditionally choose a first name (the parents’ choice) a second (from the paternal side) a third (from the maternal side) plus last names!!

I have seven children (that will be all!). My husband gave me the priviledge (though he had his input too!) of naming our children as I am a writer & have been obsessively naming characters & pets for years & I possess a very LONG list of names!

We love unique, spiritual, personal, strong, beautiful names that ARE real names but are not commonly heard. Oddly, despite our unique choices (prior to any celebrity’s choices!) some of our children’s names have recently become more recognizable/popular…

Xavier Luc Pierre (12ys) (pronounced a la francaise: “Zah-vee-ay”)
Gabriel Robert Roy (10ys) (after the angel)
Raphael Roman Jackson (8ys) (after the angel)
Seraphina Orla Grace (means “angel” Orla means “princess” in Gaelic) & Seamus “Shea” Finlay Francis ({James in Gaelic} only ever called “Shea” but believe one should always bestow the full name!)(6ys)
Saoirse Celeste Ruth (pronounced “Sear-sha” means “Freedom” in Gaelic & Celeste means “heavenly” en francais) (4ys)
Honor Hero Verite (love the strength & purity of the names, Verite means “truth” en francais) (22ms).

Recognize any of them?? Remember we were first (note the ages!)!!

We are SOOO proud of our children’s names, people constantly ask us about them & compliment them. If it were up to me I’d have another 9 children just to be able to name them… guess I’ll just have to stick to the characters in my books from now on!!!

- IsabellaFrancoise on June 6th, 2009

My nephews names are simple, Dylan, Adam, Andrew, Matthew, Michael, etc., but my nieces are more celebrity like, Nevaeh Grace, (Heaven spelled backwards), Shiloh Jolie (My sister says she didn’t name her after Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, but I am inclined to believe that some insperation for her name came from Brad and Angelina’s little girl, hint, hint! LOL!) Charity Hope and Harmony Faith (Nevaeh’s little sisters, my brother’s daughters) and the newest addition, Pearl Joy (My other brother’s daughter).

- Paige on June 6th, 2009

We named our daughter Isla, although we didn’t name her after Isla Fisher, we saw her on TV and jotted her name down and kept going back to it. We love it and she gets a ton of compliments. I wanted short and sweet and got that with the name Isla.

- Mary on June 8th, 2009

Mary: a fellow fan of short and sweet. I also think that Isla’s a pretty name. It seems to be a name coming back, as I’ve met few people here with ‘Isla”s recently, but hadn’t heard it in years, a friend of my parents about 20 years ago but like it.

- Sam & Freya's Mum on June 9th, 2009

My parents named me “Sabrina” They liked the name and knew no-one by that name. Then “Sabrina The Teenage Witch” came out and I got teased non-stop for it. However when I was born they had no way of knowing that was going to happen!!
There were a couple books out and of course the movie staring Audrey Hepburn, which is where my mom heard it (Something similar to an earlier post by Mary about her daughter Isla) and is worked.

Having had the troubles that I had with it though I probably would not do the same thing to my children. Although there are some great names out there and I won’t discount them just because they are celebrity names.
I agree that names like “Miley” pin points when you were born and I think that names should be timeless.

- bree on June 9th, 2009

I also like celeb baby names, and when i was pregnant i liked rather odd names, like Kingston and harlow, jett, maddox, etc… But when my little girl came into the world i chose Bethany Elise. It sounded elegant and lovely, and now just recently found out im pregnant again, im thinking more on the celeb baby names. Im going to find out in a few weeks the sex of the baby. My husband thinks its gonna be twins since there is a lot in the family. Anyone with different names or suggestions?

- emily brown on June 9th, 2009

emily brown – How about Sylvie or Lena? Or Mila? Avalon is a good name, too. Evren is a nice name; I’m not sure if it means anything but I heard it in a dream and it sounded nice. Then there’s Ayessa, Voisanne is a beautiful Cambodian name, Asha, Greenlee, Katya, Jakie, Anais, Tessa, Gracia, Harper, Briony, Bianca and Bernice.

For boys you could try Aurelian, Bryce, Arlo, Teal, Kieran, Alexei, or Grayson.

For other possibilities you can go to these sites:

http://www.babynames.com/
http://nameberry.com/

As for middle names, I found a really great site that gives interesting and unique ideas for common choices: http://www.namenerds.com/uucn/advice/middle.html

Hope that helps!

- Leyla on June 10th, 2009

i love reading everyone’s little stories!

i have 2 daughters and a newborn son! my 4 year old is Coultyn Nicole. i just loved neutral names and this one really stuck out to me. Nicole came from a family friend who was murdered. My 2 year old is Sailor Paige. Believe it or not her name is from HEROES. i loved the name Sylar when i heard it but was scared to name my baby girl after an evil villain! haha, so i switched to Sailor, though sometimes she’s Saige! Finally my little guy is Sascha Ivan. Sascha sort of has influence from Naomi Watts’ and Liev Shrieber’s Sasha. Then the Ivan is from Ivan Koumaev from So You Think You Can Dance. He was my niece’s dance teacher before the show and I just ADORE him!!!

- melanie on June 11th, 2009

I love the name Shiloh (after the Battle of Shiloh and the dog not the Jolie-Pitt daughter) Noel (No-elle) Marie but it sounds too much like Shiloh Nouvel so I’m leaving that alone. I like Isla Marie or Amelie (Ah-meh-lee) or Ameline (Ah-meh-leen) because I love Amelia but it’s getting a little popular for me. I used to love Ava but I think I’m going with Lavinina for my homage to Ms. Gardner since Ava is too popular. I like Shiloh Allison (or even Shiloh/Shilo Conner/Connor for a boy or girl) is still up for grabs and Noah Marie is cute even though it’s alittle popular with boys and rising with girls. The list goes on and on for me, I’ve been picking out baby names since middle school.

As you can see I like the names Shiloh and Marie (as a middle name)

@ IsabellaFrancoise
I am in love with your children’s names especially Raphael and Saoirse.

- Jessica on June 12th, 2009

Ever since I was 15 (I’m now 23) I dream of having a daughter to name her Nicole. However, after tons of friends asked me if it was after Nicole Richie, I switched to my second name of choice, Isabella. I think it’s so beautiful, and I love names with an Italian touch to it.
But I’m starting to realize people will think I like it because of Bella Swan from Twilight. Oh well.

- Julianna on June 13th, 2009

from wiki:

Noa (Hebrew: נועה, Noa; or נעה, Nōʿā), is a feminine Hebrew name, derived from a root that means “movement”. The name is used in the Hebrew Bible for one of the daughters of Zelophehad. Noa is commonly confused with Noah (Hebrew: נח), an unrelated masculine name known from the biblical story about Noah’s ark.

Noa is also Arabic[citation needed] and Japanese with the meaning of “with love”[citation needed].

“Noa” is also a masculine Polynesian name (though not commonly used).

- anon on June 14th, 2009

I am inspired by European names: Celeste, Cecelia, Francoise, Alexi, Bijou, Bianca, Anica

The celebrity baby names I really like are:
Violet, Harlow, Leni,

- lydia on June 14th, 2009

I am a fan of old but unusual names for children. When I was pregnant I had decided to name my daughter Jude Eleanor (after the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” and “Eleanor Rigby”) However, once she was born it didn’t seem to fit her. We ended up naming her Clarabelle Margret. Supergirly, unique, and totally fitting of her personality. (Hoping she doesn’t hate me one day for it) My son is Nathan Anthony. We decided a boy needs a strong name to carry him though life. There are not very many Nate’s around anymore. I think people feel it is too common.

- Irisheyes on June 14th, 2009

I grew up watching horror movies, vampires, monsters, and things like that, so in 2002 when I had my twins i named them Buffy and Craven (boy/girl) I love the names and no one around where we live has them (unlike my sister’s son Noah, there are six other Noah’s in his class, all born in ’99) I was 19 and single, and now my and my new husband are talking about kids, and we are already discussing names. His older two kids have simple traditional names and we want names inspired by the 90s music, so we are thinking Ezra (for a boy) and Emerson (for a girl).

- heather on June 15th, 2009

Hi everyone!
I from Chile (SouthAmerica), no kids yet, but I want names that they can use in all countries.
If there is a girl: Josefina (Josephine in english), Camila (like my cousin), Sofia (Sophia in english), Magdalena & Asunción. (biblical names, I’m catholic)
And for boys: Sebastián (middle name of my cousin Oliver), Lucas (good for all languages), Pablo (Paul in english), Ramiro & Vicente.

Here we don’t change our last name when we get married, also we got 2 last name (1st last name from dad & 2nd from mom).
So, all my life I gonna be María Alejandra Sepúlveda González.

- María Alejandra Sepúlveda on June 16th, 2009

I really like the name Viggo. Viggo Mortensen is the first time I heard it.

- Christina Bledsoe on June 16th, 2009

Jessica i love your son’s names!
Me and my husband chose sort of different names for our sons as well.
Ryder Anthony, Lyric Thomas, Spencer Bronx, Poet Jason, & London Cristopher

- Christine s m on June 18th, 2009

My three children are named after our favourite Old Hollywood movie stars (we’re two classic movie buffs).
The eldest is Lauren Katharine (named after great Lauren Bacall and Katharine Hepburn)
The middle one is Greta Louise (named after Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks)
The youngest is Charles Bogart (being named after Charlie Chaplin and Humphrey Bogart)

If Charlie was a girl we would have named her Tallulah Marlene (after the wild Tallulah Bankhead and Marlene Dietrich).

I didn’t know Bruce Willis’ daughter was named after Tallulah Bankhead, so it was a great surprise!

- Marie on July 30th, 2009

For some reason I felt compelled to see what the meaning of some names were and came up to this website. It was quite interesting to see what others thought. Our 4-year-old daughter is Noa Kaelyn. Oddly enough we don’t even know any boys named Noah!
During my pregnancy we received much criticism (we were even told we had time to change our minds!), but ever since her birth people comment how feminine “Noa” sounds. We love it. She’s girly, petite and beautiful, with her fair complexion and slightly curly long dark hair (half caucasian and asian).

We considered Sophia, Jocelyn, Elise, etc., wanting strong yet sweet womanly names. And it had to be a name my foreign grandmother could pronounce.
We had an Italian Greyhound we named “Eva” (Ava) which was short for Evanescence (not a huge fan of the band, but the definition of the word is quite fitting for the breed).

My husband (David) and I (Susan) have such common “boring” names that we wanted our child to have more thought behind her name. Her vibrant, decisive personality now brings me hope that she won’t fade in the background in life (I was severely shy and timid growing up). She is strong, yet sweet and thoughtful; a good balance with her name. No regrets for our final choice!

- Susan on November 4th, 2009

I love the name Harlow!

- Shirelle on December 13th, 2009