Obama Babies: Post-Inauguration Newborns Named After Barack And Michelle (PHOTOS)

Barack Obama's November election kicked off a naming frenzy with newborns in Kenya and the United States.

The day after Obama's inauguration was no different. Three newborns in Kenya have already been named after the president and first lady....meanwhile, Antigua is renaming its highest mountin--Boggie Peak--after the new president.

Photos from AP:

Irene Anyango, 24, holds her baby day old baby daughter named Michelle Obama Anyango at the Marie Stopes maternity hospital in Kisumu, Kenya Wednesday Jan. 21, 2009.

Carolyne Aknyi Otieno, 20, with her day old baby at Provincial Hospital in Kisumu, Kenya Wednesday Jan. 21, 2009 . Otieno named her baby "Senator Barack Obama Otieno"

This picture taken on January 21, 2009 shows a Kenyan baby Michelle Obama, named after US new First Lady, in the arms of his mother Linda Omondi, born shortly after the inaguration of the first black US president Barack Obama, at the new Nyanza general hospital in Kisumu. 'I hope that one day he too will become a great leader if not like the US president', said the mother.

Comments

[Eek909]

Senator is kind of a freaking awesome name.

People really get their panties in a twist when it comes to baby names. I grew up with a weird name, and I've always loved it's uniqueness. To this day, I've never met anyone else in person with my name. I always felt sorry for all the Jessicas and Jennifers I knew at school.

[nippyfan]

A woman who gives over her body to a baby for nine months..and then at the end of all that comes the big labor of love, can name her child "treestump' if she so desires. My opinion.

How many more David, Matthew, Jeffrey, John or Joe's do we think the world needs?

Okay, I'll admit...if you name the child treestump, the child WILL have issues.

[Sunshine85]

A name should be just that. Not words. Apple, Major, Peaches, these are confusing silly. My husbands name is Dickie. That's sad. Why would you do that to a child. Its almost abusive. But Barack is an actual name so its fine. On the other hand 'Senator', not such a good idea. Maybe she thought that was his first name>?

[mbh78213]

I'm not too crazy about "Senator" either. Besides, it's "President" now.

[mam]

I've always liked the advice that when naming a child you should try prefacing the name with "Supreme Court Justice [fill in the blank]."

[GunneraGirl]

LOL! Good advice!


Or try to picture it on a movie marquis, the way Judy Garland did when she named her daughter Liza Minnelli!

[mam]

Well, it's not quite a baby, though she's my baby, but I adopted a new kitty (Chloe) on Saturday, Michelle Obama's birthday, and gave her the middle of Michelle in honor of the occasion.

[honeydiva]

If you can name a child Apple and folks say" ah how unique" nobody need to say a d a m n thing about Senator. pffft.

[DaBluAce]

There is someone in my area named Pastor and he not a minister! There are those name Prince, Queen, Princess.....What is wrong with Senator......I had a student in my class named Forrest and one named Hunter a friend named December.

[HolmesMusic]

alittle better than "apple' and 'sunday" = lol... or Apple Sunday...

[Copeword]

What about Appleseed?

[iceage7]

In kenya you have people named kennedy, washington, livingstone, linlcoln

[blair771999]

I love the Obama's but no way would I name my kid after them especially Barack.People of colo need to give their kids names that don't automatically disqualify or stereotype them.Plus Barack isn't a pretty name in my opinion.

[Ty90]

You're very ignorant. Obama became PRESIDENT with that name.

Therefore, it's VERY obviously NOT a disqualifier.

[dimplesmile7]

Oh yeah, then how do you explain the fact that our President is named Barack Husein Obama? You might want to think outside of the box.

[noudidnt]

White people should stop giving their children stupid names OR people should name their children and allow others to name their children.

[Ferrante Photo]

Your post makes no sense. Did the name" Barack Hussein Obama" disqualify him from becoming, arguably, the most powerful man in the world- The President of the United States of America? NO ! It's the same silly nonsense Shelby Steele argued, and then wrote the book: "A Bound Man: Why We are Excited about Obama and Why He Can't Win "
No, people of colour, especially Blacks that descended from slaves, who's names were taken and changed by Whites, should stop naming their children Anglo-Saxon names like James, Charles, George and most definitely, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Kennedy. And since everyone believes now that MLK's dream has been realized ( which it hasn't ) White children should now be being named Barack, and Malia etc.

[YouDisgustMe]

lol

[rudyinbama]

As to the overrated Shelby Steele, whose politics always trumps his reasoning, yes, he should eat a lot of crow.
But let's not beat up on Cosby here.
Some analysts claim his Huxtables readied a generatioin of white people for the Obamas. There's also no question that Obama's message of parental responsibility parallels Cosby's.
For most of our history kids were harassed by their peers for having unusual names, so Cosby WAS right, but perhaps the age of naming children anything under the sun has changed all that.

[LeftCoastLefthandedLefty]

I can see that you really like pretty names Blair, but typically guys don't like their names to be classified as pretty.

Barack is a strong distinct name, and unlike most american names it actually has a meaning "Blessing from God"

Hussein, despite it's present day assocation with Saddam Hussein is an extremely common name on the African continient and was given to Barack to honor his paternal grandfather as it was his first name. Hussein is a semetic name which translates to "good" or "handsome"

Ironically our president's first name appears in what most Americans would consider the best source of good christian names the Bible. Barak (Hebrew spelling) the son of Abinoam who lived in Kedeshnaphtali was a leader who Deborah, the judge of Isreal at the time, counseled. (Judges 4:6 - 5 :15)

I hope this information has been informative and useful.

[fanifesu]

Hopefully someone will be king enough to explain the Senator part, it's still better than naming your kid Adolf Hitler.

[Adrienne Williams - Huffpost Blogger]

Ah, that's so nice. -- Senator eh? lol

[OBAMAthePRESIDENT]

THe funny thing is that Senator Obama sounds funky and Regal! LMAO..

[OBAMAthePRESIDENT]

Here is a culture lesson for you guys..

Naming their kid Senator is most likely a language barrier. It's like the Hmong of CA who named their kids Road, Sister, Car, Baby, etc.. They heard the name and figured OK. They see Senator Obama and don't understand that the difference between nouns and pronouns.
Remember, in many places in Africa there are no written language, and this makes it more difficult the translate certain ideas.

[BlackberryDiva]

Another cultural lesson - it's a Luo thing we do - and many times we do understand the difference between the pronoun and noun...sometimes we don't. Sometimes its the flamboyance...we are known for that. We have kids called Queen. I have a cousin called president but in swahili. His parents are quite knowledgeable about written english and luo.

Can't speak for Carolyne up there. But Kisumu is the city closest to K'ogelo. They are just used to, and have known the president, as Senator Obama for some time - especially from his last visit there. She may have just liked the ring to it. Looking at Linda I can probably safely say you can question her taste and burden she's placed on her kid (he will elicit a few laughs even among us) but her written language is not really part of the equation here. Ask her to tell you what a senator actually does that may be difficult. Believe me she'll get a fair share of comments from her own relatives similar to the ones on the post - she probably wanted funky and regal...

I mean I have had an american tell me that her name means "sweet" in swahili but Mandazi is actually a sort of donut...which is sweet but well doesn't quite carry the same meaning. not really a noun and adjective problem.

[BlackberryDiva]

And did I say we can be flambouyant? My kid may just be called Senator. It has this ring...especially with a luo accent.

[YouDisgustMe]

uhhhhh......i'm not sure where you get your information from but you'd find that english is spoken almost everywhere in africa.....even in the most remote villages

[PATina]

Especially in countries like Kenya that at one time were part of the British empire.

[naschkatze]

Hmm. If I were still having babies, I'd do Malia and Sasha. Barack as a first name and Obama as a middle name for a boy.