Brad and Angelina, as everyone now knows, named their daughter ‘Shiloh Nouvel,’ and in a story today CNN.com is suggesting that “if one were to take a literal approach to analyzing the entire name, Jolie and Pitt could appear exceedingly bold in dubbing their daughter ‘the New Messiah’.”

Hmm…you think so? I don’t agree. If you check out the post  I wrote a couple of days ago, I noted that the meaning of ‘Shiloh’ is all over the biblical map, with at least a half dozen variations floating around. Maybe Brad and Angelina were thinking of the meaning ‘Gods’ Gift,’ with the spiritual connotation being ‘personal sacrifice,’ as described in Dorothy Astoria’s The Name Book, a 1982 book that provides biblical and spiritual references for names. Or maybe they chose Shiloh for one of its other meanings.

In fact, I think it’s CNN, running this half-baked AP wire story, that is being “exceedingly bold” here. For the sake of stoking up a bit of controversy and pandering to their website readers, they stretch as far as they can to suggestively attribute a meaning to ‘Nouvel Shiloh’ that Brad and Angelina most likely did not intend. But hey, it sells, right?

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Posted on May 31st 2006 and posted to Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(1)

For the record, I happen to like Mira Sorvino. I think she’s a talented actress. I say this because I don’t want to convey the impression that I’m anti-Mira Sorvino or anything like that. But ‘Johnny?’ Johnny Sorvino-Backus? With an older sister named ‘Mattea Angel?’ What part of left field does that come from?

Perhaps Mira and husband Chris Backus were so dismayed by all the strange names being foisted on celebrity babies, they decided to get back to basics with a resounding thud by calling their new son ‘Johnny.’ Or perhaps they just felt that it was impossible to come up with anything more outlandish than Grier, Suri, Zolten, and Shiloh Nouvel, and they decided to throw in the towel.

Either way, celebrity baby naming is now officially ‘back to basics.’ I hope this is the start of a new trend, where instead of trying to outdo each other by coming up with the weirdest baby names. celebrities will now try to outdo each other by coming up with the most basic, plain, meat-and-potatoes baby names they can come up with. If that’s the case, Mira and Chris have set the bar pretty high. Or should I say low?

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Posted on May 30th 2006 and posted to Mira Sorvino, CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(0)

What an anticlimax! After all the hype, after photographers were tossed in jail for venturing too close to the Jolie-Pitt birth camp, after the breathless anticipation — after all of that, Brad and Angelina couldn’t come up with anything juicier for a baby name than Shiloh Nouvel?

Shiloh is a well-known Hebrew name, variously described as meaning ’gift of God,’ ‘peaceful,’ ’the one to whom it belongs,’ or even ‘a prophetic name for the Messiah.’ All over the biblical map, really. But Shiloh also has a strong Civil War connection. As any war buff knows, Shiloh was the scene of one of the most grisly battles of the entire war. The 1862 battle left around 25,000 dead, with countless more wounded. Little Jolie-Pitt might grow up to wish she’d been named something a little more…well, peaceful.

But on to Nouvel. What’s up with that? Obviously, it’s French for ‘new.’ Sources report that Nouvel was chosen because one of Brad’s favorite architects is Jean Nouvel. Yikes. Naming your daughter after a favorite architect? No disrespect to M. Nouvel, but the birth of this child was the most-anticipated event since the turn of the millenium. We were all hoping for a baby name that wowed us, that really left us saying “Jolie and Brad — now there’s a celebrity couple who really know how to name their baby.” But sadly, no. We get a ‘peaceful’ little girl who is either ‘new’ (we knew that) or named after some French architect. It makes me miss Apple and Suri already.

Photo by Photorazzi

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Posted on May 28th 2006 and posted to Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(0)

Singer Gwen Stefani and husband Gavin Rossdale welcomed a new member to their clan on May 26, as Gwen gave birth to a bonnie boy in Los Angeles. His name? Kingston James McGregor. Both Gwen and Gavin apparently have Scottish blood in their heritage, so it’s no surprise they came up with James McGregor for the wee bairn. Fine Scottish names they are too. But Kingston? Are we talking Kingston Trio here? A nod perhaps to either Gwen’s or Gavin’s early musical influence? Nothing so heartwarming. Gwen, apparently, loves Jamaica, so Kingston it is. They reportedly plan on referring to their new son as ‘King’.

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Posted on May 27th 2006 and posted to Gwen Stefani, CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(0)

Kevin Dillon, most recently playing  a wannabe actor and hanger-on in the HBO hit comedy Entourage, is a new dad, as wife Jane Stuart gives birth to a baby girl in Los Angeles around May 18. Little Dillon-Stuart is named Ava, which means “bird” or “like a bird.” The most famous Ava, of course, was Hollywood silver screen star Ava Gardner. Did Dillon and Stuart name little Ava after famous A.G? They aren’t saying, yet.

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Posted on May 26th 2006 and posted to Kevin Dillon, CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(0)

It’s twins for Chelsea and England soccer star John Terry, as his fiance Toni Poole gives birth to a boy-girl duo on May 20th in London. John and Toni continue the British tradition, exemplified recently by Ginger Spice (who named her daughter Bluebell Madonna), of choosing floral (though not necessarily flowery) baby names. So it’s no surprise that their new daughter is named Summer Rose. That’s actually a delightful name. Too bad they dropped the ball, so to speak, when it came to Summer’s brother, who received the uninspiring, nursery-rhyme-sounding name of Georgie John. You can’t win ‘em all, even when dad is a superstar for the great Chelsea F.C.

Photo by Photorazzi

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Posted on May 26th 2006 and posted to John Terry, Toni Poole, CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(0)

Singer Geri Halliwell, perhaps better known as Ginger Spice of the Spice Girls, and now pursuing a solo career, welcomed a baby girl on May 14. She named her daughter Bluebell Madonna, after seeing so many bluebells in London parks during the last weeks of her pregnancy. That’s a sweet reason for picking a name, although ‘Bluebell Halliwell’ rhymes a bit too much. Good thing it wasn’t ragwort season in London.

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Posted on May 23rd 2006 and posted to Geri Halliwell, CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(1)

Actress Sasha Alexander gave birth to a baby girl on May 12 in Geneva. The baby’s father (and Sasha’s fiance) is Eduardo Ponti, the youngest son of Sophia Loren. The happy couple are naming their daughter Lucia Sofia, in honor of her famous grandmother.

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Posted on May 23rd 2006 and posted to CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(5)

Penn Jillette and wife Emily guaranteed that their offspring will continue to be…well, memorable…as they dubbed their second child, and first son, Zolten. The baby boy joins famed sister Moxie Crimefighter in the Jillette family, possibly the home of the weirdest baby names on the planet. (Though Pilot Inspektor Riesgraf-Lee, son of actor Jason Lee, may beg to differ). Jillette explained that Zolten is a common Hungarian name, as well as the name of Dracula’s dog. Little Zolten was born May 22 in Las Vegas.

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Posted on May 23rd 2006 and posted to CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(0)

Lea Salonga, who played Kim in Miss Saigon on Broadway in the early nineties, and also appeared in Les Miserables in London and New York, gave birth to a baby girl on May 16, 2006, in Manila, the Philippines. Ms. Salonga, and husband Richard Chien, named the new arrival ‘Nicole Beverly.’ Apparently, ‘Nicole’ has long been a favorite name of Ms. Salonga’s, and ‘Beverly’ was chosen for a family connection.

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Posted on May 19th 2006 and posted to CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(1)