Why Sparrow? Hollywood's Weird and Wild Baby Names Explained

By Jo Piazza Posted Sep 11th 2009 09:00PM

Do stars think their kids won't stick out enough being surrounded by paparazzi, skipping school to hang out on movie sets and showing up on the cover of US Weekly? That must be why they decide to give them names no ordinary person in their right mind would bestow on a child. How else to explain Sparrow James Midnight Madden, who Nicole Richie and Joel Madden brought into the world on Wednesday?

Sparrow. Apple. Pilot Inspektor. What's going on? Some explanations after the jump.

"Celebrities are often the trendsetters in society. To name their kid Bob or James wouldn't put them on the pedestal they exist on. So Sparrow or Harlow are not only cute names, but different. Everyone remembers a Shiloh," Jared Shapiro, Executive Editor of Life & Style, explains to PopEater about why celebs feel the need to reach so far out of the box for baby names.

Sparrow's playmates will most likely include Apple and Moses (Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin's kids), Kal-El (Nicholas Cage's son named after Superman) and Bronx Mowgli (son of Ashley Simpson and Pete Wentz named after an NYC borough and a character from the Jungle Book). If Sparrow is smart he will stay away from the kids on the playground with really weird names like Jason Lee's son Pilot Inspektor and Penn Jillette's daughter Moxie CrimeFighter. And Sparrow will always be able to rest on the laurels that he isn't named Jermajesty like Jermaine Jackson's spawn.

Former New York Daily News' gossip columnist Ben Widdicombe believes that celebrities aren't trying to be trendsetters at all, but that they are so far removed from reality that they simply don't know any better. "Celebrities live in their little bubbles and often they don't think of the impact a bizarre name will have on their child," Widdicombe tells PopEater. "Sometimes it seems as if they regard parenting as a branch of show business, which suggests they don't have their priorities straight."

The designer Kai Milla once told Widdicombe that her husband, Stevie Wonder, was on the phone with Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa when she was pregnant and it was Nelson who decided the baby-boy-to-be should be called Mandla.

Widdicombe retorted back, "you mean he just named your baby after himself?'" She just shrugged and replied, "What are you gonna do? It's Nelson Mandela." That does seem as good a reason as any.

In 2008, a New Zealand judge famously stripped custody from a couple who called their daughter 'Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii,' ruling that the name constituted child abuse. Don't believe it? Read it here.

"It would be good if Hollywood kids had the same rights to prosecute their parents," Widdicombe says about those labeled with unusual names.

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Wild Celebrity Kid Names

'Naked Chef' Jamie Oliver and wife Jools pose with their newest flower, Petal Blossom Rainbow, hours after giving birth on April 3. She joins sisters Poppy Honey, 7, and Daisy Boo, 5.

Rex USA

Tags: celebrity babies, celebrity baby name, celebrity baby names, CelebrityBabies, CelebrityBabyNames, nicole richie, NicoleRichie, sparrow

Comments

(50)

Friday 11 September

By Steve

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I hope the boy learns to fight he has to live with the name not the stupid parents. Sparrow wow havn't these people ever been out in the real world he's going to go to school some day well I guess the could have named him kick me that would have saved some confusion.

Friday 06 November

By Donna

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I would rather go to a school with a name like 'Sparrow' or 'Apple' than go to school with a name like 'Pilot Inspektor' or 'Moxie Crimefighter'

By SU

I know alot of these folks did drugs BUT really. What the heck..

By mcrforeverr

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

there are some that i wonder y its even on this list and some i thought should be on it.

Saturday 12 September

By NatashaLynn

Well his middle name is James so if he's smart he'll go by that when he gets older.

By chellewake

I'm kinda neutral on the name Sparrow, I've heard a lot worse from celebrities. Love his other names though (James Midnight Madden)

By bonbon

Who's gonna beat him up? Inspektor or Jermajesty?
Most kids these days have unusual names. It's creative.

By joyce

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Why do some parents put such bad choice of names on thier little baby angels? This name will be with them forever. Don't they realize what terrible kidding they will go thru in school. Children are so cruel.I would wish they would think long and hard before they name thier babies such weird names as Sparrow. I feel really sorry for those children when they grow up. God bless the little children and make them strong.

By Anna

I personally love unusual and beautiful names! Some I like more than others, but that goes for "normal" names as well. I named my daughter Soleil and my son I named Zephyr. For me, I couldn't imagine naming such unique little people something ordinary. Our world revolves around our "Sun" and is blessed by a "Gentle Wind" :)

I like your choices Soleil and Zephyr but to tag a boy with a name like Sparrow will i guess if thet wanted a bird they could have picked Turkey or Chicken I myself would have went Hawk or Falcon for a son. Sparrow would be a fine name for a girl I realise it's not politically correct to say a name should be gender appropriate but this child will grow up in the real world.

By Jessica

omg you named your kid after punky brewster!! that's awesome

By cocolafay

Sparrow sounds lika a girl!

By Pina

i applaud a celebrity like Jack Black who kept it real for his son "Thomas" a name that will serve him well in the real world. We need to make names like this fashionable once again. It will only help these children in life, not help them end up in therapy......

By Cari

Thomas Black?....hmmmm.....I'll bet there are hundreds if not thousands of people with the same name. (if Black is not Jack's legal last name this becomes moot, but the rest of the comment stands)
While I will agree that there are some names that are a little "too far out", for the most part, I applaud parents who use creativity and give their child a special and unique name.

By BoriquaRTrashNY

Maybe the kid will grow up and be a heroin addict like its mom. I think I will send over a nice gift; a baby spoon, a cotton ball, a few drops of water and a lighter. I'm sure Nicole will share her syringe

By LaLaYah

LOL. Oh, shut up.

By Man+Woman=ellohveeee

Because not everyone wants a boring 'ol eurocentric name.

By millericka

I love this name. I think my name is pretty unique and I love it. When I have childern I want to name my daughter(If I have one) Harley Diesel and a boy I like the name Olvier Wilde like the poet. And I am not even on drugs. I think that most of you probably have names like Bob, Sam, and Kate. And most kids that have ordinary names want to be called something more unique. I know from my little town.

By Debbe

It is always the parents with the normal "usual" names that put these odd names on their babies.
That is the problem I have. Nicole, how pretty that name, and then she names her baby sparrow, how nice. Atleast they can change their names when they get 18.

By Mia

not only is my name unusal, but it has been mis-pronounced so many times, that I am surprised when someone pronounces it correct!

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