Just as we turn to celebrities for new trends to name our children, we also look toward them to see what outrageous names they have picked this time around. From Apple to Zahara, Mallory Moss presents the best and worst celebrity baby names of all time.
And when it was bad, it was horrid:
- Audio Science (Shannon Sossamon & Dallas Clayton). Supposedly, the parents -- a musician and an author -- were looking for a "word name" and decided this name was meaningful. Sorry, this name is hideous. Meaningful words in baby naming may include Harmony, Grace and, yes, even Moxie -- but not Audio Science!
- Poppy Honey
- Daisy Boo
- Petal Blossom Rainbow
- Buddy Bear Maurice
Dear Jamie & Jooles: I am not sure why you chose the hippiest hippie names ever known to Hippidom for your children. The names are at best clunky (with the exception of Daisy Boo Oliver, which has a nice cadence) and at worst, one sounds like a cigar-smoking teddy bear.
Not-so-Honorable Mention (They Should have Stopped Midstream)
Here's what is so hard about this list. I kinda like each of the three first names, especially Moxie. I think they are cute. Yes, they are all "word names" but they are old fashioned enough that they can take on their own meanings. However, the middle names are so painful that they all had to fall off the list below and onto the not-so-honorable mention as they morphed into names ridiculous in tone and/or meaning.
- Moxie CrimeFighter (Penn & Emily Jillette). Moxie the girl is definitely as cute as Moxie the name, as proven by pictures from her recent birthday party. However, when the Jillettes added CrimeFighter, the name just became laughable.
The good, the great and the mystifying:
- Jaden Christopher Syre & Willow Camille Reign (Will & Jada Pinkett-Smith). In my opinion, these are the best celebrity baby names that have come down the pike. Jada & Will used across-gender variations of their names Jada/Jaden & Will/Willow). They are unique but not weird...a very difficult combination to find for a celebrity baby name.
- Zahara Marley
- Maddox Chivan Thornton
- Pax Thien
- Shiloh Nouvel "John"
- Knox Leon
- Vivienne Marcheline
Dear Brad and Angelina: the thought you put into your baby names sets an example for the rest of us. The names of your babies have been mindful -- of both culture and beauty. In addition, you have allowed your children, John in particular, to self-select names, which may be the greatest gift of all.
Dr. Mallory Moss is a board-certified nurse practitioner in psychiatry and a founding partner of BabyNames.com. Since its launch in 1996, BabyNames.com has been heralded as one of the top parenting sites on the internet. Dr. Moss' passions lay in community-based mental health and destigmatizing mental health diagnoses. Dr. Moss was also the editor of the popular online parenting advice column, "Ask Grandma Maggie."