Friday, August 27, 2010

No Last Name Needed

With a second child on the way, my wife and I've been talking a great deal about baby names. Which has led me to think about celebrity names.

Some names seem owned by celebrities, and to name your child a name of that celebrity beckons back to that name whether you intend to or not. For example, you can think you're being creative in naming your baby girl Miley, but everyone will think you're referencing (or stealing) from Miley Cyrus, whether that's your intention or not.

Where some celebrities have gone with a singular name (Madonna, Cher, Bono) there are other celebrities who could easily cut their surname and people would always know who you were talking about.

And I wonder (and I haven't done the research) as to whether they changed their names, and if not how unique it is for these stars to have such distinct one-of-a-kind names.

Here's some examples of celebrities who's first names alone don't even warrant a surname (If you're not sure about the star I'm talking about, freely ask in the comments and I will provide).

Sure I have a last name, but the first will do:
  • Aretha
  • Arsenio
  • Ashton
  • Atlantis
  • Benicio
  • Beyonce
  • Breckin
  • Charlize
  • Cuba
  • Denzel
  • Demi
  • Elton
  • Fairuza
  • Geraldo
  • Gwyneth
  • Heath
  • Jada
  • Keifer
  • Leelee
  • Meg
  • Miley
  • Montel
  • Neve
  • Oprah
  • Orlando
  • Tilda
  • Topher
  • Uma
  • Viggo
  • Ving
  • Whoopi
Can you think of more names that are owned by celebrities so strongly that the first name alone makes you think of the star?

5 comments:

Anthony said...

This is fun...
Angelina
Conan
Dolly
Rosie

Walter L. Hollmann said...

Meryl
Liza
Bette (silent "e")

Andrew K. said...

Definitely with you on Whoopi, that woman needs to start acting again. For me, there's only one Jude and though she's not big yet I'm pretty sure there'll never be another Saoirse.

Anonymous said...

When I hear Orlando, I think of the doomed strip club manager from The Wire.

We call each other Elton after a few drinks when someone does something unmanly, so that is perfect.

Eralel83 said...

The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Reese. Fun post!