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)

Saturday 12 September

By Cari

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Not sure what you have against Rowan, unless you have something against the Irish, since it is a Irish name meaning "little red one"....and I'm not sure what recent Ever you are referring to, but Ever Carradine (3rd generation Carradine acting family) seems to be doing just fine (not the "worse of people")....and of course it's my opinion, but I think Sunday Rose was a beautiful choice as a name for Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's daughter.
Until we institute naming laws like some other countries, each person and/or couple is free to name their child what they like. I don't have to like seeing the 100th Chris Young or Zach Smith and you don't have to like the names that are unusual and if we have our own children, we too can name them a name that we like.

By rann948

Shiloh is a great name - for a dog. Sparrow? Is he a little bird brain? No? too bad, that's what he's going to be called in middle school. My feeling about names? Life is hard enough, and one never knows what challenges a baby will face down the road. Why add another potential bully bulls-eye?

By S321Saint

If it was a girl..Sparrow MIGHT be ok. But for a boy? Its patently obvious the "parents" are brain damaged and should not have custody or be around kids. Same applies to Jamie Oliver and wife Jools who stupidly name their kids Petal Blossom Rainbow, Poppy Honey, 7, and Daisy Boo, 5. If this isnt child abuse, then Child Protective Services needs to disband..because they are not doing anything important.

Sunday 13 September

By Tara V

s321saint : Its scary to think that there are people out there that are so out of touch they think that giving a kid a classic name (Daisy and Poppy are 'old' names, and thats what they would be going by, mostly a middle name is null while your at school and only the middle is really important at work) or even an unusual name ranks with kids that are *starved and beaten or raped for an ongoing basis.*

Friday 06 November

By Donna

S321Saint - oh I'm sorry, the Child Protective Services' is too busy dealing with real whack-offs and freaks out there..you know the kind who molest their sons and daughter and tape it to put on the internet. or will let their child sleep in their own fecal filled diaper for days on end because crack is more important. They have a little more time on their hands than arresting Parents A and D for naming their child Jewel Cover and Dust Bunny.

By Tammy

I have a couple of other names that I always thought would be cool to name my kids if I lived in Hollywood.
How about Tire Iron, and Luggage Rack. Great names for the Hollywood set.

By ateezdiva

Maybe these kids wouldn't even know their names were "weird" if only people still said something nice or nothing at all. Why is anyone so worried whether these kids will get picked on anyway? I'm not being mean, I just don't think there's any real concern for these kids. This is just another reason to pick on someone in the spotlight, to try to take them down a notch or two, as if that will make the writer's insecurities go away. Just MY opinion. I say "Congratulations to you Nicole, Joel and sister Harlow". Best wishes on raising your beautiful family.

By carole

poor baby with the name sparrow. Hope they call him james.

Friday 18 September

By Maryanne

I loved the name Harlow.... A little off stream, but still beautiful. Sparrow, come on!!! I was waiting for Nicole to come up with a classy off beat name not a bird!

Sorry Nicole you dropped it. Theses kids will not be cute little babies, kids of teens forever!!!

Tuesday 06 October

By Shannon

Who is any one of us to judge what people name their kids? You want to sit here and generalize "Oh Sparrow is a terrible/great/girl's name, etc."

Interesting.

Because I'm sure people said the same things about Robin Williams when he was born, and my oh my, what a successful career & jovial man he turned out to be.

Bravo for originality. My boyfriend's name is "Dave" and the only great thing about it is that chances are, if we ever break up, there's a fine possibility my next boyfriend will be a "Dave" so I won't have any embarrassing bedroom faux pas. On the other hand, if I call to him from across a crowded store, like ten people turn around.

When I was young, I remember being upset that there were no "Shannon" license plates, stickers or magnets when we travelled for me to collect. Now there's every variation of Shannon under the sun. I know a Shanan, a Channin, Shannen, Shanon, and plenty of Shannon's. You know what? People call me Sheigh (rhymes with "sleigh"), and when I ran into my friend Shanan who goes by "Shae" I thought that was pretty cool.

Anyway, that's my 2¢. There are WAY more important things to worry about than other people's baby names. The exciting thing here is the rad bday of 9/9/09, and mild surprise the couple didn't name the child after MJ or Adam, both of whom were friends of the pair. Regardless, best wishes to the family, and welcome to the world, little Sparrow.

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