Cinematical

We like to give celebrities a lot of crap about their baby naming practices. Of course, names like Apple and Suri and Banjo and Rumor and Moon Unit seem ridiculous to most of us normal folk who prefer common names like Michael and Elizabeth, but a lot of non-celebrities are just as guilty with their name choices. I'm talking about movie fans and other celebrity-obsessed parents. A recent survey in the UK has revealed a lot of interesting names given to newborns, including Gandalf, Superman and Harry Potter. None of these are exactly movie-related, and they could be the result of fans of literature or comic books, but I'm willing to bet they have more to do with the recent film versions of the works in which these characters appear.

Other baby names that should lead to future torment include Addidas, Reebok, Tiger, Snoop, Gazza, Arsenal and Apple (after Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter). Some popular names associated with famous people, though less likely to garner ridicule, are Madonna, Kylie, David Beckham, Peaches, Keanu and Britney. This isn't that strange, though. Many of the people I know were named after someone famous, whether an actor, musician or writer.

I have to admit honestly that I can relate to parents wanting to reflect their fandom at the expense of their poor children. For most of my life, I claimed that I would name my first son Atticus. Then, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore had to name their daughter Scout, and I didn't want to seem like a copycat. The final blow to my idea, however, came when I heard that Atticus was the name of one of Jake Gyllenhaal's dogs (the other is named Boo).