Among my many (debatable) skills: remembering celebrities’ children’s names.
Sometimes I’m only vaguely aware of why the person is considered a celeb. (Season 17 American Idol runner-up, maybe?) But the names take up SO much real estate in my brain.
From chatter on name forums and casual conversation in the real world, I know I’m not alone.
And yet, I think the way that celebrity baby names work in our culture has changed a little – or maybe a lot.
Rarely do I hear a celebrity name these days and think WHOA. (Elon Musk + Grimes? That was the first high profile birth announcement to make me do a double-take in a while.)
Looking back at my 2020 best celebrity baby name list, I think that reflects three things:
First, celebrity is fractured. Between reality stars and YouTubers, someone is always having a baby. Which is a great thing! But because they’re so frequent, it’s harder to really analyze them, or even give them a ton of attention.
Privacy concerns give us pause. Some celebrity parents make an effort to conceal details about their children, and that’s fine. (After all, the parents decided to pursue fame – who knows how the kids will feel?) But even if the parents share the names, it can feel needlessly cruel to dissect them. I think we’re more sensitive about that than we were even a dozen years ago.
Most interestingly, the world has caught up. But the real reason I think celebrity baby names are less of a thing? Because daring, meaningful, creative names feel like options for everybody, not just glamorous Hollywood types or rock stars with an entourage.
Suri, Apple, Pilot, and Blue – all names that caused raised eyebrows a decade ago – feel almost ordinary circa 2021. If Beyonce’s baby names would blend in on nearly any Brooklyn playground, well, then … maybe celebrity baby names aren’t really all that interesting anymore.
ELSEWHERE ONLINE:
If you’re wondering what happened to the Baby Name Wizard, here’s the story. Sad to see it go, but still glad Laura is writing at Namerology.
How funny! I’m currently reading the same book the Bree mentions here. And, not surprisingly, I’m also crushing on Nella.
Dinah, Thora, Constance, Clarice. Turns out that “edgy” old lady names are totally my thing.
The British do love those double middle names. Welcome to the world, Oliver Blake Anthony and Theodore Richard Kemp.
I feel like this family is running out of C names! No, really. They have Clint, Clay, Cade, Callie, Cash, Colt, Case, Calena, Caydie, Corlaee, and Caris Audrey. Plus, the parents are Courtney and Chris – which is, clearly, how they got started with C names in the first place. What could possibly be left?
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That’s all for this week! As always, thank you for reading. Thinking of you!
