BBN NEWS: Baby Named After Birthplace--Mom & Dad's Car

On November 19, a couple welcomed their baby girl into the world. They then decided to name their baby after the unusual place of her birth -- her parents' car.

Tony Richardson and Samantha Smyth had originally planned to name their child Tilly, but changed their minds after the baby was born in their seven-seat Kia Carens when they arrived at a hospital in Poole, England, just a little too late.

"We have decided she doesn't look like a Tilly and settled on Kia," Richardson said.

"I don't think we would have used Volkswagen or Citroen," added Smyth.



Source: UPI.com

Fan Mail #39

Dear Zen Angel:


my bad baby names are:

Aieydaha

Zanevaha Aaliyah

Alazae Nevaha




Signed,

Anonymous

******************

Dear Anonymous:

In the subject line of your email, you wrote that these are "bad baby names (good names to me)." Are these names of people you know, or are they names you plan to use?

In any case, I will confirm that these are, in fact, Bad Baby Names. The first definately qualifies as a MOUTHFUL name. And Nevaha (and all its various and varied spellings) is probably my least favorite name on planet Earth. Not only because it is a Bad Baby Name, but because so very many people seem intent on using it. I probably get 20 emails a week about that name...more than about any other Bad Baby Name in existance (the fabled Orangejello twins not withstanding). I've yet to really understand the "plus" side to this name, the reason so many people seem to love it. I keep hearing, "It's the word Heaven, only backwards!" Well, isn't the backwards of Heaven, Hell? Just saying.

Good luck, reader! And thanks for submitting these!


----Zen Angel

Brad Paisley: The Grandparents Wanted to Kill Us!

Recently, country musician Brad Paisley opened up to the good folks at theboot.com about his life, his family and his new album.

And of interest to us here at BBN? Information on the names of his sons, William Huckleberry and Jasper:


I gather other family members didn't quite warm to it like you thought they would?


"When we picked William as the first name of Huck -- which by the way no one calls him -- that was such a strong and classic name, of course they said, 'We love it!' ...and then we said, 'By the way, Huckleberry is the middle name.' They wanted to kill us! This time we tried it out and it was like, 'Oh, Jasper? OK, let me think about that.' ... and they [suggested] another name, like it was up for discussion! But anyway, I love it because I don't know any Jaspers."




Source: theboot.com

A My Chemical Romance Baby

Lyn-Z (of Mindless Self Indulgence) and Gerard Way (of My Chemical Romance)welcomed a baby girl, Bandit Lee Way, on Wednesday. Little Bandit weighed in at 6 lbs., 5.6 oz. She is their first child together.

Bandit Way....sounds like an old Western film, doesn't it?




Source: people.com

Jamie Oliver: The Pitter-Patter of Little Petal

TV chef Jamie Oliver sure knows how to keep with a theme.

The celebrity chef and his wife, Jools, welcomed new daughter Petal Blossom Rainbow on April 3rd. Petal was welcomed home by her equally floral-named sisters, Poppy Honey (age 7) and Daisy Boo (age 5). Oliver wrote on Twitter that the baby is "so cute" and that her name "goes well" with those of her siblings.



Source: usmagazine.com

Nas & Kelis: Help Name Our Son!

Rapper Nas and singer Kelis need help in naming their unborn son. This will be their first child together (Nas has a daughter, Destiny, from a previous relationship).

“Yeah, [we are deciding between] a few baby names,” Nas said. “It’s kinda hard. I’ve been thinking about kinda putting something online: ‘Choose his name,’ You get a couple stacks for that. We take care of you for that. You win something real. But we’re thinking now.”

Source: MTV News.

BBN Round-Up: Febuary 2009

Here's a Round-Up of articles & links for the month of Feb. 2009. Enjoy!



Name That Baby iPhone App: find a Name For Your Newborn By Shaking your iPhone
"Parents-to-be simply choose a gender and a starting letter, then give the iPhone a shake. Name That Baby delivers a scrollable list of baby names, complete with origins and descriptions, in whatever quantity the user chooses. Another shake produces additional names, until the perfect name is found."


Top 100 Baby Names of 2008
"And while I still have no idea what we'll pick, I thought perhaps others out there might find the top 100 baby names of 2008 interesting as well."


Malia and Sasha Obama Stir Up the Name Game for Parents
"'Celebrities do influence what parents name their children, and I consider the Obamas celebrities,' said Linda Murphy, editor in chief of BabyCenter.com...'New parents don't want to name their kids after celebrities, but they're very interested in what the celebrities name their children, if the names feel modern and sound interesting.'"


One of Baby's Names That of Paramedic Student
"A St. Catharines couple is so impressed by a student paramedic’s actions following their son’s birth, they’ve borrowed his name for their child."


What's New in Names
"Now, Dakota and Paris, kindly give your seats to Patience and Prosperity. The old place names are out, values and family in as baby-branding evolves."


Most Unfortunate Names Revealed"
"What do you call some of the most unlucky people in Britain? Justin Case, Barb Dwyer and Stan Still." (don't skip the comments on this one, folks! Hilarious.)


Chicago Cubs fan from Plainfield names baby girl Addison N. Clark
"The Plainfield man and his wife, Lauren, have named their firstborn child Addison N. Clark after Wrigley Field's famed location. The proud papa said he thought of the name years before the baby's Dec. 19 birth, but wasn't sure his wife—who was raised in a White Sox family—would go for it." (there's a photo of the baby on this page...she's adorable!)


Would You Buy Xylitol? Why Some Names Scare Us
"It's not just that all of these names are a nuisance to spell and a mouthful to pronounce — though they are. It's that they strike us as downright dangerous. That, at least, is the conclusion of a new study published in the journal Psychological Science — and it's a study that ought to give pause to any manufacturer with a product to brand or parent with a baby to name."


Ethan, Olivia and Ava Alberta's Top Baby Names
"Unique names last year included Brazen-Lee, Coal, Delorian, Gonzo, Jazzy, Jury, Natorious, Rexall, Sequoia, Stetson and Zeppelin for boys, and Anarchy, Castle, Harloquinn, Jetaime, Queen, Science, Taffy, Tree, Tyranny, Valkyrie and Whiteangel-Victoria for girls."


Report Looks At Impact of Names
"A new report says boys with odd-sounding names may be more prone to trouble than other boys. But some professional baby namers question how accurate this research is."


You Name It!
"As “Cholee” translates as “bra” in both Malay and Hindi, I fought hard the temptation to correct the teacher on the obvious misspelling of her name. After all, I’m already getting used to strange spellings and quirky names these days."


Parents Are Thinking Up Unusual Names
"However, choosing an unusual baby name requires some care. How can you choose a name that is distinctive, yet does not end up sounding ridiculous? Of course, you don't want your child to be at the receiving end of all the Waynes and Dylans in his school. Here are a few tips..."


Celebrity Pregnancies are Hard to Stomach
"Pregnancy might be all the rage in Hollywood these days, but celebrities aren't doing us any favors. We get the M.I.A.-fueled myth of the pregnant wonder woman. We get the scramble for celeb-approved baby gear - because surely your child can't live without a onesie worn by Coco Cox-Arquette. We get the infusion of baby names like 'Brooklyn' and 'Bronx'."


My Name? It's Really Terry Bull
"The study also unveiled wacky names in the US, including Carrie Oakey, Annette Curtain, a dentist called Les Plack and a doctor called Sumey, possibly at risk of lawsuits."


Baby Names: There Are So Many Options, There Are No Options
"Although my wife and I still don’t know what we are going to name our bundle of joy there are some criteria that must be met for our child’s name and I think they are good criteria for anyone who needs some help narrowing down their name list(s)."


Odd Names, Diseases Top Celebrity Stories
"In a fleeting moment of trendiness, I briefly considered the monikers Beavis and Pinecone before naming my son Daniel, but relented since I am not rich or famous enough to pay for a lifetime of therapy." (this is a very good article about children and Kawasaki's disease. I highly recommend it.)


Another Crazy Celebrity Baby Name
"The Hebrew word Merkabah means "chariot." Merkaba is also a Zulu word for a space/time/dimension vehicle. I guess that means you could technically take a Merkaba and fly to Mars. Far out!"


Codemasters Start Flamewar For the Name Jason
"So you’re having a new baby, eh? Well, if you happen to be a gamer you might want to check this article out, thoroughly. Codemasters has a new event underway that could reward parents for naming their kid ‘Jason’. So what’s the reward? A year’s worth of video games for the console of your choice."


Kevin Coster Has a New Son, Dull Factor Now 10
"Kevin Costner, we thank you for your selfless dedication to preserving an American tradition—that of vacuous, self-absorbed celebrities congratulating themselves for dreaming up pointless baby names."


And If It's a Girl, Benjamin Roethlisberger
"...the most cringe-making name in the story derived from our storied NFL team: a boy named Steeler Gerard Petrocky...Maybe he’ll get to share a tailgate party (or an analyst) with Tré Rivers Kemerer, whose name is a Romance language play on the Steelers’ former home field, Three Rivers Stadium. And we laughed when George on Seinfeld wanted to name his hypothetical baby 'Seven'!"


The Names We Do For Love
"After all, a name is the one thing that parents give a child that will stick with them the rest of their life. How's that for pressure?" (this is another one for comments---some great ones here, including many Bad Baby Names!)


For Ballplayers, What's in a (nick) Name?
"Yes, we have fallen into an unfortunate pattern of passing off simple shortenings or addings of 'ie' to last names as viable nicknames. Had George Herman Ruth played today, he would probably be referred to as "G-Ruth" or, much worse, 'Ruthie.'"


Doomed By Your Name?
"New research out of Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania also looks at what names signify. However, unlike 'Freakonomics' -- which maintained that although a name might tell you something about a person's background, it wouldn't predict the outcome of his life -- the new study purports to show a link between name and outcome: The more unpopular your name, the more likely you are to land in juvenile hall."

BBN News: Is Malia the Giraffe Offensive?

She's a newborn zoo critter. Like her mother, Akilli, she is brightly-colored, spotted, and posessed of a long neck and good health.

But unlike her mother---or any other animal at the Buffalo, New York zoo---her name is the center of an ongoing controversy.

Soon after the announcement was made that the newborn giraffe is named "Malia," after the daughter of President Obama and wife Michelle, area residents became embroiled in a debate over whether or not the name choice is appropriate.

"I don't think the First Lady and President of the United States of America gave their children names that should be transferred to a four-legged animal. I find it offensive," says Katherine Mitcherson Robinson. She appeared on a local radio station WUFO to voice the concerns she and other residents have over the animal's moniker.

Officials at the zoo insist that they had no intent to dishonor the president or his daughter. "Certainly there was no intention on the part of the President, or board, or anyone here at the Zoo to be offensive," said Vice Chair of the Zoo's Board of Directors, Hal Payne. The idea was to honor the First Family, particularly as the baby giraffe was born so close to inaguration day. He added that the practice of naming animals after famous people is well-established: two other giraffes were named for actors Goldie Hawn and Clint Eastwood, in addition to a serval named for Dallas Cowboy Emmitt Smith and a porcupine at the Prospect Park Zoo named in honor of zoo president Donna Ferndandes.

Nonetheless, many listeners of WUFO are calling for the zoo to rename the giraffe, and Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant is sponsoring a resolution to have the name changed.

To the best of this blogger's knowledge, the President and his family have made no comment regarding the newborn and her controversial name.




Source: WGRZ.com. Click on the link to see a photo of baby Malia, a video regarding this issue and comments from locals regarding the controversy.

BBN News: New Baby for Erykah Badu

R&B singer Erykah Badu gave birth to her third child, a daughter named Mars Merkaba, on Febuary 1st. Proud papa is rapper Jay Electronica.

This isn't the first baby, or first BBN, for Ms. Badu. She is also the mother of Seven Sirius and Puma.






Source: aceshowbiz.com