Celebrity quotes on weird baby name choices

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Written by Mary Fetzer

Celebrities continue to shock us and out-do each other by giving their offspring ridiculous names. Why do they do that? Why did Gwyneth Paltrow name her daughter Apple? What is actor Jason Lee's explanation for naming his son Pilot Inspektor? Here are a few explanations -- straight from the mouths of celebrities -- for some of the wackiest, unique and downright strange celebrity baby names.

Pilot Inspektor

The son of funnyman Jason Lee is burdened a name that’s both silly and misspelled. The story behind the name: Lee reportedly took the name from the song “He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s the Pilot” by Grandaddy. What great expectations he must have for his son!

Fifi Trixibelle

The daughter of Irish songwriter Bob Geldof and his wife Paula Yates bears the name a circus dog, but Geldof claims that his daughter is named after an Aunt Fifi. And Trixibelle? There is simply no explanation.

Kal-El

The son of actor Nicolas Cage is strapped with the name of a comic book character, or so the story goes. Nicolas changed his own surname from Coppola to Cage to pay tribute to Marvel comics’ Luke Cage and named his son Kal-El (Clark Kent’s Kryptonite name) in honor of Superman. Too bad he didn’t consider Luke instead.

Apple

Apple is the daughter of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Paltrow explained this truly fruity name like this: “When we were first pregnant, her daddy basically just said, ‘If it’s a girl I think her name should be Apple.’ It sounded so sweet, and it conjures such a lovely picture for me – you know, apples are so sweet and they’re wholesome, and it’s biblical.” Now it’s all so clear…

Coco

Coco is daughter of actors Courteney Cox and David Arquette, who considered bestowing Mom’s name – Courteney Cox Arquette – on their little girl. This didn’t jive with Dad’s Jewish traditions, so they settled for Mom’s old nickname, Coco – an obvious choice when adhering to tradition.

Gunner

Gunner’s dad is The Killer’s frontman, Brandon Flowers. Flowers explained that having such a, well, flowery surname requires a tough-sounding first name like Gunner. “I had to have something that combats against the Flowers,” said the rocker. Sadly, the child’s full name seems to describe “one who shoots plants.”

Jermajesty

Jermajesty is a descendent of Motown’s royal family, the Jackson 5. Dad is Michael Jackson’s older brother, Jermaine. All of Jermaine’s kids – Jermaine Jr., Jaimy, Jeremy, Jourdynn and Jermajesty – have names that start with J. Jermajesty is the practical name choice for a nephew of the King of Pop.

Mars Merkaba

Mars’ parents are singer Erykah Badu and Electronica, and her siblings are Seven Sirius and Puma Rose Sabti. Mars, of course, is a planet, and Merkaba describes how to get there. In the Bible, the Merkaba as a chariot made of angels with four wings and four faces that represent the four directions and take the form of man, lion, ox, and eagle. So sensible!

Princess Tiaamii

Princess Tiaamii is the daughter of actor Peter Andre and his model wife Jordan. Tiaamii is a combination of the maternal grandmothers’ names: Thea and Amy. There is no rationalization for the Princess part.

Lou Sulola Samuel

Little Lou, daughter of Heidi Klum and Seal, joins siblings Henry Gunther Ademola Dashtu, Johan Riley Fyodor Taiwo, and Leni. Klum’s children have short, common first names like Lou for “convenience.” Like her sibs, Lou’s middle name, Sulola, is of Nigerian origin. Samuel is the family’s surname. Seal, born Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel is from Nigeria. Finally, a reasonable explanation!

Ikhyd Edgar Arular

Rapper M.I.A. and her fiance, The Exit guitarist Benjamin Bronfman, already had to explain Ikhyd’s bizarre name. “My baby is not called Ickitt, Picket, or Licket, thank you very much,” blogged M.I.A. on MySpace. But rather than enlighten fans as to why the baby’s name is Ikhyd, M.I.A. just ranted, “Go pick on Apple, Satchel, and Moon Unit.”

What were they thinking?

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