Just when I thought the world of celebrity baby names was getting a tad boring, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick chose a  pair of unusual baby names for their twin daughters, who arrived via surrogate in Ohio on June 21.

Joining big brother James Wilke are twins Marion Loretta Elwell and Tabitha Hodge. Bit of a mouthful. Let’s dig deeper.

According to a report in People, the names “Elwell” and “Hodge” are both family names on Parker’s side of the fence. Thank goodness. I thought for a moment Parker and Broderick had made them up.

That leaves Marion Loretta and Tabitha. Where did they come from? Marion is sort of a unisex name — think Maid Marion of Robin Hood fame, versus John Wayne’s real name, Marion Robert Morrison. (You didn’t know that?).

Loretta — well, I have to believe either Parker or Broderick or both is a big fan of Loretta Lynn, because that’s the most obvious association. (And the best name of the three, IMO).

And finally, Tabitha. Another name loaded with association. Never mind that it means “gazelle” in Aramaic. This name says “Bewitched” to anyone who remembers 60’s TV, and even if you don’t, there was a TV spinoff named Tabitha in the 70’s. I don’t recall Tabitha in the 2005 Nora Ephron flop.

Whatever the origins, it’s a pretty unusual group of names. And it’s definitely not boring! Drop a comment if you know any more about where the names came from.

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You expect wacky names from celebrity rock music parents (think music producer Bob Geldof and his brood, including Fifi, Pixie, Peaches, and Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily, to name just one family) so it should come as no surprise that rock couple Gerard Way, of My Chemical Romance, and bassist Lyn-Z of Mindless Self Indulgence, have named their newborn daughter Bandit Lee. No word yet on how they came up with that unique baby name.

The big surprise is how modest they have been about the birth. It has become de rigeur for celebrity couples to blab about their new arrivals on Twitter pages — sometimes even giving us a blow-by-blow of the actual birth (See Kimora Lee Simmons, below). So I was oddly touched to see that Way and Lyn-Z had not twittered their way through labor, but actually kept it private! How old-fashioned! How cute! How romantic!

Meanwhile, Baby Phat fashion CEO Kimora Lee Simmons couldn’t stop twittering while she was delivering, keeping her 18,856 followers in the loop as son Kenzo arrived on May 30, letting everyone know she was “having contractions now! Ooo- wee! It’s like WHOA! Love & Light, KLS”

How the heck did she tap that out while she was having contractions? Oh, maybe that’s why it’s only about half the usual 140 characters allowed on Twitter. Giving birth and multi-tasking is asking a lot, even from compulsive Twitterers.

Cyclist Lance Armstrong went a step further in sharing his special moment, as girlfriend Anna Hansen gave birth to son Max on June 4. He annouced the arrival on his Twitter page, but as everyone knows, you can’t post photos on a Twitter page (yet). Undeterred, and determined to show off his 1-day-old son to his almost 1 million followers, Armstrong linked from his Tweet to a baby photo on YFrog. Just in case they were feeling left out, he also linked to the delivering nurse and doctor. What, no photo of Mom?

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With no mega-celeb babies getting names like Jasper Warren in recent weeks, there hasn’t been much excitement in the world of celebrity baby names. So while we’re all waiting for the next Petal Blossom Rainbow to arrive, here’s a roundup of the mundane names chosen by your average celebrities in recent weeks:

Backstreet Boys singer Howie Dorough, and wife Leigh, both 35, welcomed their first child, a boy, on May 6. His name is James Hoke.

Also on May 6, actress Chyler Leigh, 27, (Grey’s Anatomy) and actor/husband Nathan West, 30, became third-time parents with the arrival of daughter Anniston Kae. The baby joins siblings Noah, 5, and Taelyn, 2.

Julie Bowen, 40, of Boston Legal fame, and husband Scott Phillips, gave 2-year-old son Oliver a double surprise on May 8, in the form of twin baby brothers Gus and John.

Meanwhile, Spiderman Tobey Maguire, 33, and wife Jennifer Meyer, 31, welcomed a baby boy on May 8, but no name has been released yet. Let us know if you know the name! The couple have a two-year-old daughter, Ruby.

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Singer and actress Jill Scott, 37, and her fiancé, drummer Lil John Roberts, welcomed their first child together, a baby boy, on April 20. His name is Jett Hamilton.

The three-time Grammy award winner is currently starring in HBO’s new series, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.

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Posted on April 22nd 2009 and posted to CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(2)

Dave Grohl, one-time drummer for Nirvana, and now frontman for the rock band Foo Fighters, is a father for the second time. Grohl, 40, and his wife Jordyn Blum, 32, welcomed their second daughter on April 17. Her name is Harper Willow, in honor of Grohl’s great-uncle Harper.

The couple, seen here at the Grammy Awards in February, married in 2003. They named their first daughter Violet Maye.

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Posted on April 21st 2009 and posted to CELEBRITY BABY NAMES, Dave Grohl | Comments(1)

Newsflash, 4/20/09: According to Brad Paisley’s official website, posted about 10 minutes ago, the name of his and wife Kimberly’s new son, born April 17, is Jasper Warren.

I believe we are the first celebrity baby site to break this news, following its release on Brad Paisley’s site. (5:15 pm EST, April 20). When it comes to celebrity baby names, we’re # 1.

So let’s hear your comments! What do you think of “Jasper Warren”?

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Posted on April 20th 2009 and posted to Brad Paisley, CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(6)

UPDATE: Brad Paisley’s second boy is named Jasper Warren.

Last time around, while they apparently labored to come up with the name William Huckleberry for their first son, it took Brad Paisley and his wife Kimberly about six days, following the arrival of Huck, to announce the name in public. If they hold true to form, we can expect the release of the new baby’s name around April 22 or 23. I’m guessing Edward Sawyer.

Keep your guesses coming!

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UPDATE: Brad Paisley’s second son is named Jasper Warren.

Country star Brad Paisley, who just won best male vocalist at the Academy of Country Music Awards, and wife Kimberly Williams-Paisley, are expecting their second child any minute, if indeed he or she hasn’t already arrived. So what’s it gonna be named?

It’s no secret that William Huckleberry, 2, the name of the Paisley’s first son, was not the most popular baby name of the year. In fact, our admittedly unscientific poll on this site in March, 2007, showed about 50% of our readers didn’t care for Huckleberry. So this time around, what’s it going to be?

Please share your comments, with your thoughts and suggestions for the new Paisley baby name!

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Posted on April 06th 2009 and posted to Brad Paisley, CELEBRITY BABY NAMES, CELEBRITY BABY RUMORS | Comments(19)

British chef Jamie Oliver, just two days ago cooking for world leaders at  the British prime minister’s residence during the G20 summit, has somehow found time to come up with a splendid new baby name for his, and wife Juliette’s, (aka “Jools”), third daughter. The Olivers’ new baby, born on April 3, is named Petal Blossom Rainbow. Now that’s what we call a celebrity baby name!

Oliver, who is increasingly known for his charitable work on behalf of childrens’ nutrition in the U.K, and Jools, have a tradition of choosing exotic baby names — Petal Blossom Rainbow joins big sisters Poppy Honey, 7, and Daisy Boo, 5, at home. Petal, Poppy and Daisy. Quite the brood!

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Posted on April 06th 2009 and posted to CELEBRITY BABY NAMES, Jamie Oliver | Comments(6)

Rapper M.I.A. caused quite a stir back in mid-February, when bloggers and gossipmongers ran with the story that she had named her newborn son Ickitt. A miffed M.I.A. struck back on her MySpace page.

Having been burned with this kind of false rumor myself, most memorably when Britney Spears fooled everyone into thinking she had chosen Sutton Pierce for the baby who was named Jayden James, I held off on the M.I.A. contretemps until an authoritative source came through with the confirmed name of M.I.A.’s baby.

Confirmation is finally here, courtesy of People. The baby’s name is not Ickitt. It is Ikhyd. There is no word yet on what Ikhyd means, so I’m not going to compare it to Ickitt, except to say I’m sure that Ickitt doesn’t mean anything.

So, for the record, M.I.A.’s baby boy, born February 11 in Los Angeles, is named Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman, after father Benjamin Bronfman. M.I.A.’s real name is Mathangi Arulpragasam.

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Posted on March 26th 2009 and posted to CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(1)