Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner announced their new daughter’s name earlier this week as Seraphina Rose Elizabeth. Personally, I think it’s a mouthful and Seraphina doesn’t go all that well with Affleck (and is much fancier than Violet, the name of Afflecks’ older daughter).  However, this little girl’s name is definitely much better than many other celebrity babies.   While some are easier to explain than others, e.g. Scout Willis was named after the narrator/lead character of To Kill a Mockingbird (but even then, Scout Finch’s “real” name was Jean Louise) vs Jason Lee’s son, Pilot Inspektor;  many are downright strange.

It seems that names  have become more and more unusual over the past few years.  When Scout Willis was born in the early 90s, unusual names were just that – unusual, even for celebrities.  However, tides turned as the twenty-first century dawned.  Celebrity children born and adopted over the past few years have included first names like: Harlow (Nicole Richie’s daughter), Orion (Chris Noth’s son), Apple (Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s daughter), Shiloh (Brad and Angelina’s first biological daughter – the Jolie-Pitts seem to give some of their kids “normal names” like Maddox, Zahara and Vivienne, but the rest of their kids have more unique ones), Bronx (Ashlee Simpson – Bronx’s middle name is Mowgli, named after the boy in The Jungle Book) and Kal-el (Nicholas Cage – yes, this child is named after Superman.  If you want to name a child after Superman, can’t you call him Clark or something?).  At least some names, including Knox (Brad and Angelina’s biological son) and Finn (Julia Roberts’ son) are more lastnames-as-firstnames. Some unusual names are actually not that bad.   My personal favourite is Finnegan, Eric McCormick’s son.  Eric is Canadian-born and might have named the child after Finnegan the dog puppet from Mr. Dress-Up (though Casey would have been better, if he were going the Mr. Dress-Up route).

Of course, it isn’t only Hollywood celebrities which give their children very unusual names.  For example, former US Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin named her children Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig.  Bristol, who recently had a baby boy, named her son Trip.  Trip has been used as a name before, but it is generally for a child who is third in the family to have the same name.  In otherwords, a boy named James Smith III*, named after his father (James Smith, Jr.) and grandfather (James Smith),  is might be called Trip.  Trip itself, however, is not a real name.  On the other hand, the Obamas have given their daughters wonderful, normal names. 

Personally, I’m a fan of more “traditional,” full names, mostly based out of Judeo-Christian scripture or culture.  I haven’t ruled out more pagan-derived names, of course.  How can I?  My name is pagan!  As far as I know, there is no St. Cynthia.  Cynthia is even unusual in literature. The only time I’ve heard my name mentioned is in Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel, Wives and Daughters. And Cynthia in the novel is kind of snobby.  However, a very strange name or even using a nick name as a first name (especially if it is something “cute”) can have consequences in the future.  If you want your child to succeed, you need to think about his or her name and how it would sound as a doctor, lawyer or politician, not because you think it “sounds cute.”  I guess celebrities think differently.

* Note:  suffixes Junior, III, etc… aren’t usually “official.”  They aren’t on the individual’s documents.