Tweet, Tweet: A Clue to How Sparrow Got His Name

MAXA/Landov

After Nicole Richie and Joel Madden named their son Sparrow James Midnight, speculation has brewed over how they came up with the avian moniker. The answer may have arrived, appropriately, in a Tweet.

“A song for the little songbird,” Joel writes on his Twitter page, and links to “Sparrow” from Simon & Garfunkel.

He doesn’t say whether the song inspired the name or the name inspired the Tweet. Either way, the song speaks of a tired and hungry little bird, alone and needy, and ends with the lines:

“Who will love a little Sparrow? Will no one write her eulogy? “I will,” said the Earth, “For all I’ve created returns unto me, From dust were ye made and dust ye shall be.”

What other messages have the new parents been leaving? Check out these Tweets:

Joel:

• [Guess] who’s back…..Oh i’m sorry we were only having a little baby boy.
• 1st day of his life & my son is already a trending topic on twitter. That’s right son, ur just like your old man. wait, i’ve never been a #TT
• Babies are like the human version of puppies.

Nicole:

• What a great day to come back on Twitter. Thank you everyone for your well wishes. I love my family!!
• Next Stop: SUSHI

– Mike Fleeman

Comments

OMG, what a coincidence! When I heard that they named their son Sparrow, I immediately thought of the song by Simon and Garfunkel! (That maybe that was their inspiration.)

- Chelsea on September 12th, 2009

“Babies are like the human version of puppies”???

Wow, how insightful. Joel must have rocked the comparison questions on the SATs…

- Alice on September 12th, 2009

the name is rapidly growing on me…..still rekon it would have been better as James Midnight Sparrow Madden, but its still cool

- Chloe on September 12th, 2009

lol, Alice. My thoughts exactly.

It’s not a bad name… I just can’t get over ‘Midnight’. O_o Well, hope they’re all doing great.

- Anna on September 12th, 2009

Loved nicoles tweet about sushi, that was one of the first things I ate after having my son last mth…. I was craving sushi my entire pregnancy..

- Sar on September 12th, 2009

Guess Nicole really missed her sushi haha!

- babyboopie on September 12th, 2009

I agree, the Midnight part is too out there. I find Sparrow cute.

-meream

- All Women Stalker on September 12th, 2009

I first thought they borrowed the name from Pirate of the Carribean Jack Sparrow. But their childrens names Sparrow and Harlow flows great together, although Sparrow is yet another name, of a celebrity baby, I never heard before.

- Tanya on September 12th, 2009

I still don’t understand the hype of Twitter, I’m sorry but in my opinion it’s just plain dumb.

- Mary on September 12th, 2009

i actually like the name but don’t think it flows well with Harlow – separately both cute – together too matchy/rhymey or something…regardless, love how in love with their family this family is…(i know that’s oddly worded – apologies

- brannon on September 12th, 2009

wonder what the grandparents think. I had a friend whose grandparents were shocked by “Liam” for heavens sake!

- freebreeze on September 12th, 2009

Agreeing with Mary. Twitter is probably the most inane thing I’ve ever seen.

I’m impressed with Joel and Nicole though. A newborn and a child not yet 2 and they find so much time to go on the internet!

- Amanda on September 12th, 2009

Alot of people update Twitter via text message, so it’s not too out there.

Either way, it’s their son and glad he’s healthy!

- Mary-Helen on September 12th, 2009

My husband tweeted our daughter’s birth! He kept family and friends updated the entire time since we only wanted the two of us there. It worked well for us! In that aspect, I love twitter.

I think Sparrow is cute. I would’ve loved it if his first name had been Midnight. Beautiful word. People have used nouns as first names for a long time. I dunno why in modern times people have become so disgusted with noun names. It’s nothing new. But then again, people dislike what they don’t understand.

- Robyn on September 12th, 2009

god i love twitter. could not function one day without it.

i love sparrow. its adorable. hes going to grow up to be quite a boy with that name lol…

- ada on September 12th, 2009

No I’m not “disgusted” with his noun name. I just think think it’s corny. Chill.

- Anna on September 12th, 2009

I loved the name Harlow, but I’m not that crazy about Sparrow. I agree with whoever said that James Midnight Sparrow would have flowed better.

- Ann on September 12th, 2009

Well, with their daughter’s first name being Harlow, I would have been a bit surprised if they’d gone with James for their son’s first name.

In any case, congrats again to them!

- CelebBabyLover on September 13th, 2009

twitter is just weird. it is like you need an audience to the most mundane moments and thoughts of your life. it is the tech equivalent of the 3 yr old at the park screaming “look at me look at me mummeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee look at ME”. imo.

as for N + J finding time to twitter, well…. i wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of these celebs’ PR teams manage all the content.

- cait5 on September 13th, 2009

I love the name Sparrow. It reminds me of the bird: cute, quirky, and cheerful. I can’t imagine a big hulking man called Sparrow, but it would suit a little cheeky boy to a tee. Since both Joel and Nicole and relatively petite, I think Sparrow will suit his name.

Actually, now that I think about it.. maybe the reason it seems like a cute name is because of how it’s sometimes used as a pet name. My mom used to say “come here sparrow!” when she wanted to give me a hug. Just an irrelevant aside, heh.

The Simon & Garfunkel is interesting. I also like how Harlow and Sparrow both end in ‘ow’ with two syllables. Not much nick-name potential in there either, so they should be safe in the playground.

- actualsize on September 13th, 2009

The song calls Sparrow a girl. Maybe they would have still used the name had they had another daughter?

- B.J. on September 13th, 2009

My husband also tweeted the birth of our daughter and announced it on Facebook right after we informed family so that way he didn’t have to call a million people and enjoy time with our new baby. I thought it was really convienent.

- Mary-Helen on September 13th, 2009

I speculated on another thread that his son’s name was that of a “songbird”, understandable in that he has a musician father (and uncle)…guess I was right!

- SouthernBelle on September 13th, 2009

cait5- Um, but then Nicole and Joel would have to find the time to call/text their PR teams with what to post! Also, as other posters have pointed out, you can easily post to Twitter with your cellphone (that goes for text messages AND photos!).

All of that said, I don’t quite get Twitter myself. In fact, I refuse to read it at all, unless CBB links to a TwitPic of a celeb baby. I much prefer FaceBook!

- CelebBabyLover on September 14th, 2009