Is is just me, or are celebrity baby names really getting weirder? Taylor Hanson, of the rock trio Hanson, and his wife Natalie, just welcomed their 4th child, and named him Viggo Moriah. It’s no Bronx Mowgli, but it’s pretty strange. Viggo has Scandinavian roots, meaning ‘war,’ and Moriah is ususally considered a girl’s name.

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US Magazine is reporting that singer Usher Raymond, and his wife Tameka Foster, have welcomed their second child, a son, who was born on December 10.

The second boy for the couple is named Naviyd Ely. No indication yet where they came up with the name Naviyd.

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Eric Mabius, star of Ugly Betty, and his interior designer wife, Ivy Sherman, just welcomed their second child, a son, in New York City. In another era, the name they chose for their baby — Rylan Jaxson — might have rated some posts in the blogosphere, some praise for being ‘cutting edge,’ and certainly a few ‘tsk-tsks’ for the trendy spelling of ‘Jaxson.’ But that was BBM (Before Bronx Mowglii). It’s now ABM (After Bronx Mowgli). And the world may never be the same.

ABM, it’s pretty much impossible for celebrities to shock the world with a cool or weird baby name. ABM, even the weirdest celebrity baby name has lost its capacity to induce shock and outrage. Rylan Jaxson? Whatever.

Actor Jonny Lee Miller and his wife, actress Michelle Hicks, just welcomed a son as well. They named him Buster Timothy. Oh, really? That’s nice.

See what I mean? Bronx Mowgli has set a new benchmark in celebrity baby names. Everything pales by comparison. I’m not sure that even some of the great celebrity baby names of recent years — the likes of Pilot Inspektor, Kal-El, Moxie Crimefighter, Jagger Song, etc. –  have had the paradigm-shifting impact of Bronx Mowgli. We are just beginning to digest this strange, yet captivating name, and the impact it may have on future celebrity baby names.

But one thing is for sure. Celebrities love a challenge. And if Bronx Mowgli currently reigns supreme as the name to beat, it’s a certain bet that somewhere in Los Angeles, even as I type, a pregnant celebrity couple is kicking around some ideas for a new baby name. Something that will go one better even than Bronx Mowgli. Something that will make Apple, Suri, and Heaven Rain seem as quaint as Tom, Mary, and Linda. Something that may include upper and lower case and at least one numeral. Something so far out, so truly cutting-edge, that it will make Bronx Mowgli seem square.

It’s out there somewhere. I know it is. And I can hardly wait.

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Now that Thanksgiving is over, and the media hysteria over Bronx Mowgli has subsided, I can get back to some normal posting, hopefully.

But just a quick parting word on the subject of Bronx Mowgli. In the two and a half years I’ve been ‘covering’ celebrity baby names, I don’t think I’ve seen any celebrity baby name get the media and the blogosphere so riled up as the name Bronx Mowgli, which as everyone in the universe now knows is the name of Ashlee Simpson’s and Pete Wentz’s new baby boy.

‘Enough with the crazy celeb baby names!’ railed a blogger on Beliefnet.com, adding that the name gave them an ‘icky’ feeling’. Adam Proteau, writing on The Hockey News site, lamented that Bronx Mowgli sounded ‘more like a crude bedroom act than a decent name for a chiild’ (I have to say, hockey, baby names, and bedrooms do not seem to really belong in the same article). ‘Can celeb tots survive their names?’ intoned Adrienne Mand Lewin, on MSNBC, in one of the rare intelligent articles about the BM contretemps, wherein Ms. Mand Lewin reports that some grown up celeb kids actually like their uncommon names (gasp!)

Perhaps because there was such a firestorm (or perhaps to stoke it even hotter) Pete Wentz felt obliged to give a little explanation. He told one interviewer that he and Ashlee ‘bonded’ over The Jungle Book, and that they simply thought Mowgli was ‘a cool name.’ And why not?

But when it came to Bronx, Wentz refused to share with the world the thinking that went into it. He kept referring to the naming saga as a ‘narrative’ (whatever that means) and that ‘it’s kind of cool to just leave the narrative what it is.’ Exactly. What it is. And what it is, it’s time to move on. Little Bronx Mowgli will hopefully thrive, the world will keep spinning, and everyone who lost it over the name Bronx Mowgli, will, I hope, feel a little less ‘icky’ as time goes by. There are, after all, better things to get really worked up over than celebrity baby names, no matter how unusual.

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UPDATE: On the name choice — I’ve seen some reports that say Bronx was chosen because that’s where the little guy was conceived (thanks, needed to know that — right up there with Kingston Stefani-Rossdale) and Mowgli because Simpson and Wentz are obsessed with The Jungle Book. Guess we’ll have to wait for official confirmation on this.

After what was reported to be as much as two weeks past her due date, singer Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and husband Pete Wentz finally welcomed their first, and much-anticipated baby, a boy, yesterday evening in Los Angeles.

And in a move that rockets the couple to the top of the running in our Celebrity Baby Names of the Year, they named their son Bronx Mowgli.

It’s moments like these that make being a blogger about celebrity baby names all worthwhile. Bronx Mowgli is the sort of name that only celebrities could dream up.

A quick check of our favorite website for baby names meanings revealed neither Bronx nor Mowgli in their lists, but maybe they will be added soon. Mowgli of course is the famous name of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book character, immortalized since he first appeared in Kipling’s short story, In the Rukh, a year before appearing in the more well-known Jungle Book. Ever since, Mowgli has been the icon of the wild boy, brought up in the wild by wolves (in the Jungle Book story). Mowgli is also said to have been a major influence in the creation of Edgar Rice Burrough’s character Tarzan.

Bronx, naturally, is the famous borough in New York City, properly known as The Bronx. The roots of the name are not particularly remarkable — according to Wikipedia, the area known today as The Bronx was land wrested from native Americans around 1640 by a Dutch sea-captain named Bronck.

Here’s the big question: how did the new parents come up with the name Bronx Mowgli? Are they trying to go one better than the Beckhams, who have a son named Brooklyn? What’s fascinating about this is the fact that just a few weeks ago, Pete Wentz went on record saying that they were going to wait until the baby arrived before finally deciding on a name. Does this mean little Bronx Mowgli arrived like a screaming wolf child from The Bronx? It would seem so. But, naturally, it’s early days, and I’m sure we’ll hear lots more about how Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and Pete Wentz came up with this amazing baby name.

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Posted on November 21st 2008 and posted to CELEBRITY BABY NAMES, Ashlee Simpson Wentz | Comments(4)

What name would you choose if you wanted to make sure you’re picking a popular name?

Well, you could do what country singer Josh Gracin, and his wife Ann Marie did, when they welcomed their third daughter, and fourth child, in Nashville on November 12. They gave her not one, but two of the current top ten names in America: Isabella Sophia. Some may say the combo, of the number 2 and number 6 names respectively, is a bit over the top. Either way, Isabella Sophia joins Gabby, Briana, and Landon in the Gracin household.

The former American Idol contestant, whose debut album in 2004 reached number 2 on Billboard, and his wife, married in 2001.

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What a cheerful choice! Comedian Adam Sandler, 42, and his wife Jackie, 34, welcomed their second daughter on November 2, according to a new annoucement on Sandler’s website. The newborn is named Sunny Madeline. She joins big sister Sadie, who is now two years old.

No word on Sandler’s site about just why they chose Sunny. Still, it makes a nice change from some of the more contrived and precious celebrity baby names that tend to crop up. And it goes really well with Sadie!

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Posted on November 12th 2008 and posted to Adam Sandler, CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(1)

CONFIRMED: Actress Michelle Monaghan, 34, (Mission Impossible III; Eagle Eye) and husband Peter White welcomed their first child, a daughter, on Guy Fawkes Day, aka November 5.They have named their daughter Willow, which is a name that has been quietly, but steadily rising in popularity for the last decade, according to the U.S. Social Security Administration.

CONFIRMED: Singer Carnie Wilson, 40, is expecting her second child next spring. Wilson, and husband Rob Bonfiglio, 41, are parents of three-year-old Lola Sofia.

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A breath of fresh air in the celebrity baby names world this week, as two sets of celeb parents give their newborns out-of-the-ordinary names.

CONFIRMED: Comedian Amy Poehler, right, who has been seen by many more Americans recently as Saturday Night Live has continued to skewer politicians, and her comedian-husband Will Arnett, welcomed their first child, a boy, on October 25. Poehler, 37, and Arnett, 38, named their son Archie. Not a name you hear often these days, but maybe it’s in for a comeback.

CONFIRMED: Meanwhile, actress Annabeth Gish, of HBO’s Brotherhood, and husband Wade Allen, welcomed their second son, Enzo Edward. Little Enzo joins big brother Cash Alexander, who is nearly two years old.

CONFIRMED: Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl, and his wife Jordyn, are expecting another child. Their first child, daughter Violet, is two years old.

CONFIRMED: Country music star Jo Dee Messina, 38, and husband Chris Deffenbaugh, 28, are expecting a child soon — and Messina has confirmed that it’s a boy.

MEANWHILE: Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz will be the next megastar couple to welcome a baby, and the couple recently let it be known that they are expecting a son. As for baby names, Simpson and Wentz are supposedly waiting til the baby arrives. When he does, they’ll pick a name that could fit a “senator or a rock star,” according to a story by Access Hollywood.

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