Would having the same last name of a celebrity or famous person stop you from giving your child the same first name of that celebrity?

Michael Bolton… there’s nothing wrong with that name.
No, there WAS nothing wrong with that name until that no-talent assclown started winning Grammys

@poofandmook Ur so crazy

No If i had a famous name I wouldn’t care…Just like if i marry my boyfriend my name will be Maygan Good. LOL just like the actress Megan good. Totally awesome.

yeah i kinda guess it would stop me from doing that. think “simpson”...O.J? Jessica? or Bart?

My last name is only known for a local radio personality.
I didn’t name my son Frank because I didn’t like the name. Had I known someone named John Dill I wouldn’t have avoided the name, unless he was an assassin, or thief, or well known perv.

hahaha yes it would stop me if it was any of those goofy celebs. but my sons name is hunter thompson. errrrr…..

Yup.
Luckily for me, my last name isn’t a famous one. It’s a very popular one, but there aren’t any extremely famous people (or characters) with it.
The most famous person with the surname has the first name of Kim. A name that I wouldn’t pick (I don’t hate it, but it’s certainly not in my top 10 list).

The name I’ve picked out for a daughter could be compared to the name of a song, and a good friend’s Bernese Mountain Dog, lol… but that’s it.

Yeah, probably, because people would laugh when they heard the name. If I met someone named Michael Jackson I would giggle for a minute. Especially depending on the type of person they were.

Yes, having the same last name as a celebrity would indeed cause me to avoid giving my child said celebrity’s first name. The same goes for a well known character. In my day I have met Dustin Hoffman, Hunter Thompson, Jacky Chan, and Michael Scott among others. None have been famous people or fictional characters, just regular guys with the misfortune of being named after someone who is well known.

Joel Rifkin, anyone?

My maiden last name is so common, and I do know of a singer with the name..but no one extremely famous. I can’t think of anyone with my maiden last name that would be so recognizable that it would make me not name my child that.
Luckily my married name is extremely uncommon. No famous people, or else I would have heard about it lol.
I guess it’d depend on the last name. Spears? I would never pick Britney (not like I ever would anyways) it’d always remind me of the celebrity.

@Grisaille seinfeld. gotcha

wondering when someone was going to pick it up

Absolutely. Not only would it be a curse on the child, who would have to put up with endless stupid jokes and remarks pretty much for life, but if you name a child after any living person, you run the risk that that person will disgrace the name in his or her later career. So much the worse for your darling.

Even just a distinctive first name (“Miley” comes to mind, as does “Barack”) is enough to ensure a future of tiresome wisecracks. And there will always be somebody who remembers a burnt-out or bygone celebrity. If you are determined to do this to a child, better give him or her an inconspicuous middle name to fall back on.

_____

According to the SSA names website, “Miley” was not in the top 1000 names for girls in the U.S. in 2006. By 2007, it had soared to number 279, and in 2008 it ranked in 127th place. If you have a toddler, expect to have a little Miley in his or her kindergarten class.

In 2008, the name “Barack” was not in the top 1000 names for boys. I’ll bet it makes the 2009 list.

@Jeruba Ugh.

Also,

Sigh.

@Jeruba Unbelievable how creative people are with naming their little human beings…Miley. MILEY. come on. Goodness.

On the other end of the spectrum I became UNBELIEVABLY excited when I found out Woody Harrelson’s daughter’s name was Deni. One, because her name is Deni, and two, because she is a SHE and not a he! First girl I ever heard of other than myself having the name.

Definitely. I would not want that type of association.

I would not give my offspring any celebrity name. Just as I would never even consider names of places, states, countries or things like “summer”. I think parents who do that only think of their ego.

@deni

“Miley” isn’t even her real name. Her real first name is “Destiny”. “Miley” was a nickname that she acquired during her young childhood.

As for the question, I probably wouldn’t do it because I wouldn’t want the person to have to deal with the unwanted attention that would give them.

Do you have ANY idea how many people named Michael Jackson I know?

There are a CRAPTON of kids under the age of 5 named “Bella” now. I hate that, mostly because I love the name Isabella and was considering it, but can’t stomach ever naming my child that because I’d be accused of naming the kid after “Twilight.” UGH!

@ragingloli How about the name of a plant? Like Willow (my niece’s name)? I agree with you. I hate those kinds of names. Places, seasons, months, plants, or things like, well, Destiny, Desire, Hope, Liberty, etc. etc. Why can’t people just pick names?

@DominicX Isn’t her middle name Hope? Or it’s something equally as corny. I can see why a nickname at a young age would be imperative. My god, if my name was Destiny Hope…I just cannot imagine someone saying “Destiny!” and me RESPONDING.

You who are young enough, mark my words: starting in about 2028 or so, watch the wedding announcements in the paper (or the 2028 equivalent of the paper) and sooner or later you will see a match between Barack somebody and Miley somebody.

Talk about how parents blight the lives of their children. Some marks are subtle and deep, and some are just right up front.

Hopefully by then I’ll see Barack somebody and Barack somebody.

My oldest daughter’s last name is Hilton. She’s had seven kids and not one of them is named Paris. She’s assured me that’s never going to happen.

@Sarcasm @ragingloli I didn’t name my child for my ego. I named him an actual name, just not a conventional one.

@Jeruba When my son was born, I was on a “birth board” and the birth announcements..every other child’s name ends in “dyn” “den” or variations of it, such as Caden, Jayden, Braden…it’s honestly overwhelming. My son hasn’t entered preschool yet, but I’m sure when he does I’ll be so confused over the names. And I’m sure he’ll end up marrying a Hannah, or Abigail or Isabella..those names are extremely popular.

@casheroo

I’m waiting for the “Aidan and All the Names that Rhyme with It” fad to die out. Luckily, my name has never been very popular and has always kinda been there in the middle. Just the way I like it. :)

@deni

I actually don’t think of it as being that weird, because I went to elementary school with a girl named “Destiny” and she definitely wasn’t a celebrity.

@DominicX I like names like yours, it’s easy for guys though..there’s plenty of middle ground names…common, but not so over popularized.

ps @DominicX Dominick is one of my favorite male names hands down. Spelling doesn’t really matter, I just love the name. I think it’s partly because I associate it with a young man I’ve been particularly fond of for about 5 years now, but still, it’s just a nice name. Bravo to you for having it lol.

@casheroo It’s true. I’ve only met one other person with the name “Lucas.”

However, there was that horrible movie about some nerd named Lucas. That was a tough time period.

@casheroo @deni Awww…thanks guys, I like it too. :) The only problem is it sounds too much like “dominate” especially the nickname I get (Dom) and I couldn’t be more the opposite of “dominating”... :P

My friend Alicia would even call me “Dominatrix” sometimes.

There’s a guy who lives in my neighborhood, first name: Weiner last name: Cadet….Weener Cadet! How cruel were those parents! Maybe within the family they don’t pronounce it like “Weener” but still, what an aweful childhood he must have had.

@Jeruba Name expert Laura Wattenberg actually covered the (nearly non-existent) rise of the name Barack in her blog:
http://www.babynamewizard.com/archives/2009/5/on-barack-and-caylee-names-and-the-news

This is a difficult question for me to answer- my last name is a fairly common Jewish surname, but I can only think of 1–2 well known people with my last name, and not one of them has a first name I particularly like. My current SO has a pretty uncommon last name, so if I ever had kids with him, this wouldn’t be an issue.

If I think of celebrity names in general, I’d probably stray away from any name that will be linked exclusively to one person. I do think Miley is a cute name for a toddler or young girl, but don’t think it will age well so I’d never name my child that.

@Grisaille Love your name! And seriously, that whole hurricane was a rough time for me as well, I can relate ;)

Yes.

(I just met a mother who named her child Daemon Master) OMG !

Surdiamond. ‘Nuff said.

@casheroo Heh. And thanks. :P

@Odysseus Funny story. If I was born just a year or two earlier, my other would have named me Satan.

No, I’m not shitting you.

@avvooooooo It rolls right off the tongue, I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Yes – out of all the names that exist in the universe, must you pick the one that would forever link your child to someone that already exists? I prefer originality, rather than be an average person with a famous person’s name.

I have a friend whose husband’s first name is John and middle name is Wayne. He hates it and has been totally mortified by it his whole life. She didn’t find out his middle name for a long time after they’d been dating. I don’t know why it would traumatize him so…maybe he caught lots of shit as a kid? I’m just glad I wasn’t a boy because my dad really wanted to name me Spain Dale Wayne-that would traumatize someone, I think.

On my dads lists of names for me if i had been a boy: Ringo, Mick, Dylan, Lennon…I wonder what type of music he was into in his time?

@Grisaille give it about ten years and you will be running into lots of 16 – 20 year-old’s named Lucas. I can think of three who went to pre-school with my boys.

@casheroo when I was growing up I knew a Cash, this poor guy’s last name was Bonus. That’s right, Cash Bonus. That is just wrong!

A name like Cash Bonus would get you mad rep in the hood

yo

I know of two people with weird names. One’s name is Strawberry Sparkle can’t remember the last name and the others name is Crystal Chanda Lear. How awful. I like Cash Bonus better tho.

I would never knowingly give my child the same name as a celebrity. That’s just asking for attention. I can just imagine how many jokes they would have to put up with during school.

@knitfroggy Lorena Bobbit’s husband/victim was named John Wayne Bobbit. That name doesn’t make me think of the legendary film star, it makes me think of a guy without a penis. Eww!!!

Nope. My last name is relatively common. At some point I want to change it whether I marry or not.

@SuperMouse The whole Lorena Bobbit thing makes me shudder and I don’t even have a wiener. Speaking of names, I always thought Bobbit was kind of an unfortunate name for a guy that got his weenie cut off!

If I have a son, I wouldn’t mind naming him Steve.

But not Lightning. That’s where I draw the line.

@knitfroggy Teehee…

@Sampson
and the second son, you will call adam

@SuperMouse @knitfroggy Lorena was my babysitter when we lived in her neighborhood in the county. We moved about a year before their um.. disagreement.