As the world waits for the Duchess of Cambridge, knee Kate Middleton and Prince William to announce the name of their little princess The Weekly office wonders; what’s in a name?
Alice, Charlotte and Elizabeth are all being tossed around as potential monikers for the tiny royal but the one thing that seems certain is that Kate and William will go with a classic and proper name for their second tot.
While unusual names are more and more common these days many argue that a name holds the power to shape a child’s self-esteem and their identity—and even influence how they are seen and treated by others.
But studies on baby names often contradict one another – early research found that men with unusual first names were more likely to be school drop outs and be lonely later in life. One study found that psychiatric patients with more unusual names tended to be more disturbed.
But the authors of the book Bad Baby Names (2008), Michael Sherrod and Matthew Ryback scoured U.S. federal census records to find the absolute worst names parents have given their children and discovered names like Garage Empty, Hysteria Johnson, King Arthur, Infinity Hubbard, Please Cope, Major Slaughter, Helen Troy, a handful of variations of the famed Ima Hogg (including Ima Pigg, Ima Muskrat, Ima Nut and Ima Hooker) and several Satans.
Sherrod and Ryback also interviewed adults who had endured names like Cash Guy, Mary Christmas, River Jordan and Rasp Berry and concluded that all of them, even Happy Day, seemed, well… happy.
“They were very proud of their names, almost overly proud,” Mr. Sherrod told the New York Times. “We asked if that was a reaction to getting pummeled when they were little, but they said they didn’t get that much ribbing. They did get a little tired of hearing the same jokes, but they liked having an unusual name because it made them stand out.”
But while the research remains mixed there is plenty of socially anecdotal evidence to suggest that calling you child even something as uncommon as ‘Bart’ will entice more than a few fairly stinky slurs on the playground – just ask any 5-year-old.
Here some well-known people whose unusual names have raised a few eyebrows for all kinds of reasons.
Alice, Charlotte and Elizabeth are all being tossed around as potential monikers for the tiny royal but the one thing that seems certain is that Kate and William will go with a classic and proper name for their second tot.
Apple Martin The moniker given to Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s daughter pushed the boundaries in terms of baby names. Shortly after Apple Martin was born her mother told Oprah that it was Chris Martin that thought of the fruity name. “Basically it was because when we were first pregnant, her daddy said, if it’s, basically one day he just said if it’s a girl I think her name should be Apple. And I just, it sounded so sweet, and it conjures such a lovely picture for me, you know apples are so sweet and they’re wholesome, and it’s biblical and it’s just, they’re so, and I just thought it sounded so lovely and…clean”.
Barrack Obama Although there were some controversial questions raised about the 44th US president’s name – Barack Hussein Obama – when he ran for his first term as president the name ‘Barack’ is actually a nod to the Hawaiian-born politician’s Kenyan father and means “one who is blessed” in Swahili.
Whoopi Goldberg The comedienne’s name inspiration comes from exactly where you hoped it wouldn’t. While Whoopi Goldberg was born Caryn Elaine Johnson her friends nicknamed her ‘Whoopie’ after the whoopee cushion for her um, flatulence. And it was Whoopi’s mother who suggested her daughter take a Jewish-sounding last name to boost her Hollywood career and thus Whoopi Goldberg was born.
Joaquin Phoenix There’s just something about quirky actor Joaquin Phoenix that hints that the name “Bob” just wouldn’t suit him. Born Joaquin Rafael Bottom in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1974 Joaquin began calling himself ‘Leaf’ as a child – so he had an earth sounding name to match his siblings River, Rain, Liberty, Summer, and a half-sister named Jodean. His family went with Leaf for a while but eventually as an adult Joaquin embraced his original first name and adopted Phoenix to match his famous brother, River.
Alanis Morissette Singer Alanis Nadine Morissette was born in Ottawa, Canada, in 1974 and her name is a feminine Greek version of her father’s name, Alan.
Kelly Slater Surfing superstar Kelly Slater was born Robert Kelly Slater because according to his autobiography, Pipe Dreams, although his parents wanted to name him just “Kelly” they worried he might not be taken seriously if he say, wanted to be president.
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