By Sawyer Pollitt, Staff Writer
Celebrities and celebrity culture permeate our lives in a way that almost nothing else does. We see them constantly on our TVs and in movies, and now with the widespread use of social media it seems like they are inescapable. We even make attempts to emulate them; what they wear, where they go, what they do. However, with celebrity culture come the strange names that we in the general populous don’t make attempts to emulate.
Celebrity baby names run the gambit from relatively normal like Bronx and Honor, names that wouldn’t look out of place on a classroom’s attendance list, all the way to the outlandish Sage Moonblood and Diva Muffin that would make anyone do a double take. Celebrities like Khloe Kardashian seem to have a certain freedom to name their children that us normal folks just don’t have.
Where she and Tristan Thompson are considering a pop-inspired name, we in the normal world are confined to standard, run of the mill names like Johnny, Michael, Jordan, or Jillian. This raises an interesting question. Why do celebrities give their children such outlandish names?
This phenomenon of celebrity baby names might have a couple of causes, but this is the most obvious. When celebrities are naming their babies, they are sure to know that their children will not be leading normal lives like the rest of the youth in the world. These children will have a largely privileged and safe childhood where there is a good chance that they will succeed in life due to the fame of their mom or dad. Because of this, celebrity parents may not be thinking about the negative consequences that a unique name can bring.
While having a name that represents a person’s personality can be important and empowering for the individual, it can also hinder job prospects and other opportunities for normal folks who aren’t riding on the coattails of fame. This disconnect between normal and celebrity life can often be seen in TV interviews where stars will tout their prime money saving tips such as simply not hiring a personal trainer or cooking your own food.
However, while it is true that we hear about so many unique celebrity names, this may just be a symptom of their fame.
One can be sure that there are thousands if not tens of thousands of normal, everyday people who give their children names like Blanket or Apple. The only difference between those names and the ones given to the children of famous parents is that the general public won’t hear about those names because the children and parents lack that elusive celebrity status. There are occasionally reports of non-celebrity parents who christen their kids with pop-culture references, but they don’t end up in the tabloids like our favorite stars.
Ultimately, the phenomenon of crazy, unique, and eccentric baby names gives us all a glimpse into celebrity lifestyle and culture. With Khloe Kardashian considering naming her new son after someone or something from the film Black Panther there is sure to be a huge media buzz surrounding the announcement and most of the American public will be along for the ride.