Sandra Bullock's choice of Bardo as her newly-adopted son's middle name puts the spotlight back on the O names - names that begin, end, or otherwise emphasize the letter O.
Over at nameberry we always loved the O names and have taken an ever-expanding view of the category since publishing our first name book, Beyond Jennifer & Jason, in which we (shockingly, at the time) declared names that end in O such as Theo and Milo to be "So Far Out They're In."
We wrote a blog last year on popular O names, ranging from Leo to Inigo, Alessandro to Juno and including such newly-hot not-technically-ending-in-O girls' choices as Harlow and Margot.
But Bardo wasn't in there - though it was included on nameberry, as a German saint's name (he was the 11th century bishop of Mainz) and also an Aboriginal name meaning water.
Bardo is also a Buddhist concept meaning "intermediate state" - significant, many say, because of Bullock's marital woes and decision to divorce, announced at the same time as her baby's adoption.
Wikipedia lists the Six Bardos for those who want more illumination, as well as other people and places that have a relationship to the name. In a more earthly realm, David Boreanz named his infant daughter Bardot, as in the surname of French star Brigitte.
Other obscure O names with celebrity connections include:
ARLO - Singer Guthrie, of Alice's Restaurant fame.
BANJO - Australian poet name chosen for her son by Rachel Griffiths.
BENICIO - del Toro.
BONO - Uni-named rock star.
BRAVO - TV Network!
CAIRO - Early black supermodel Beverly Peele chose this for her now-grown daughter.
CALVINO - Surname of writer Italo.
CARUSO - Crooner Enrico.
CHRISTO - The artist who co-wrapped Central Park.
COCO - Chanel plus the daughter of Courtney Cox and David Arquette.
COLUMBO - TV detective.
CORRADO - Junior Soprano's proper name.
CYRANO - de Bergerac.
DARKO - Donny.
DJANGO - Early guitarist Reinhardt.
EERO - Finnish architect Saarinen; variation of Eric.
ENZO - Not one but two celebrities chose this Italian variation of Henry for their sons, Patricia Arquette and Annabeth Gish.
FABIO - Has graced the cover of hundreds of romance novels.
FEDERICO - Rhythmic first name of Fellini.
GUIDO - Made famous by the boys of Jersey Shore.
INDIO - Robert Downey Jr.'s son.
INIGO - Classic British architect plus Princess Bride character.
JETHRO - Beverly Hillbillies hunk.
KENZO - Japanese designer and also the baby of Kimora Lee Simmons and Djimon Hounsou.
LASZLO - Casablanca character whose name was used by columnist Joel Stein.
LAZARO - Italian version of Lazarus used by Gael Garcia Bernal.
LEONARDO - DiCaprio did much to mainstream exotic O names.
LENO - Jay.
LILO - Lindsay Lohan's nickname.
MANOLO - Blahnik, of shoe fame.
MARCELLO - Mastroiani's name still sounds sexy.
MARLO - That Girl name chosen by star mommy blogger Dooce.
MICHIKO - For authors wanting to curry favor with Times book critic Kakutani.
MILO - Liv Tyler's choice.
MUNRO - For fans of short story writer Alice.
NEO - Keanu Reeves character in The Matrix.
NEKO - Hipster singer Neko Case.
ORLANDO - Hero, or is it heroine?, of Virginia Woolf novel.
PICASSO - Pablo.
PLACIDO - Domingo.
PO - Author Bronson.
PRIMO - Author Levi.
ROCCO - Old-time Italian name chosen for her son by Madonna.
ROMEO - Romantic choice of Posh and Becks for middle of three sons.
UMBERTO - Author Ecco.
VALENTINO - Fashion designer.
VIGGO - Star Mortensen and also son of Taylor and Natalie Hanson.
YOKO - Lennon's been turned into a first name, but not yet Yoko.
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Nico
Valentino
Diego
That reminds me: how about Zero (Mostel)? Perhaps the best O name of all time--not only does it end with "o," the entire name represents the concept of O.
Also, what would the tabloids do without O? Jacko, Blago, et al.
Too bad kids get stuck with names their parents must come up with while 'under the influence' or something. Aside from ethnic names or ones named after ancestors, parents should consider a couple of factors such as ease of pronunciation for others and names that won't cause ridicule or difficulty for their kids.
While I respect people's right to be called by whatever name they prefer, sometimes people go a little overboard with using the formal version together with a middle name which becomes a mouthful such as Susan Ann or Rose Marie. It requires a little extra thought when simply asking that person to pass the salt.
Actually 'Barack' although unusual is a relatively easy name to get used to compared to some whoppers that people come up. I recall once hearing the name 'Tiffanique' which I guess was the ultimate combination of 'Tiffany' and 'Monique'.
Anyone remember the best line in the movie, "Risky Business'"? I thought so.
Actually, that movie will be remembered much longer that this silly TV show.
That said, the O names are pretty cool.