Ten Best Celebrity Baby Names, 2006

It was no easy task, selecting the 10 most notable celebrity baby names of 2006. There were so many great names to choose from. But in the end, we think we came up with a list that represents the most newsworthy, the most trendsetting, and in some cases, the strangest, celebrity baby names of the year. Starting at number ten, our choices are:

1. 10. Tennyson.
   Son of actor Russell Crowe and Danielle Spencer. Crowe is supposedly a big fan of Queen Victoria’s favorite poet, Alfred Tennyson. Generations of British schoolchildren hated Tennyson, and we think Crowe, Jr. will also.
2. 9. Jessie James.
   Daughter (one of twins) born to media mogul Diddy and his girlfriend Kim Porter. It's not every day a little girl is given the same name as famous outlaw Jesse James. According to a Diddy spokesperson, the name was in honor of Diddy's grandmother, Jessie.
3. 8. Thijs.
   Son of Today Show host Matt Lauer and Annette Roque. Winner of the “Unpronounceable Name of the Year Award.” It’s actually pronouced “Tice.” Rhymes with “nice.” Roque is Dutch, and the name is a short version of the Dutch name for Matthew. They could have just called him Matt Jr.
4. 7. Johnnie Rose.
   Daughter of singer Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Lynn Michaels. Named in honor of Etheridge’s father. The fact that the baby was a little girl didn’t stop Etheridge and Michaels from choosing what is usually a boy’s name.
5. 6. Zolten.
   Son of comic Penn Jillette and Emily Zolten. They’re back. The celebrity parents famous for naming their daughter Moxie Crimefighter created another winner with Zolten, which happens to be Mrs. Jillette’s maiden name. But that meaning was overshadowed when Penn Jillette announced that their most important reason for choosing Zolten was that “it’s the name of Dracula’s dog.”
6. 5. Moses.
   Son of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and singer Chris Martin. Moses joins big sister Apple, to create the worst sibling combination of the year: Apple and Moses. If they have any more kids, Adam and Eve will probably be at the top of their baby name list. Penn Jillette has the right idea. Give one child a bizarre name, give them all a bizarre name.
7. 4. Dannielynn Hope.
   Daughter of model Anna Nicole Smith, and that’s all we know for sure. Named in memory of her brother, Daniel, who died tragically within days of his sister’s birth. The name is the only good gesture to come out of the sad sequence of events.
8. 3. Jayden James.
   Son of singer Britney Spears and Kevin Federline. Surely the only baby of this, or any other year, to spend more than a month with the whole world thinking he was named something else, in this case, Sutton Pierce. When his new name was revealed by a gossip website, it was a bit of a letdown. We all got used to Sutton Pierce.
9. 2. Suri.
   Daughter of actor Tom Cruise and actress Katie Holmes. The second most-anticipated birth of the year. And winner of the award for “Most Confusing Name of the Year.” Many different meanings were claimed, but Cruise and Holmes stuck with the Hebrew meaning of “princess.” In light of the adoring spread in the October Vanity Fair, perhaps they’re right.
10. 1. Shiloh Nouvel.
    Daughter of actor Brad Pitt and actress Angelina Jolie. The reigning Royal Couple of American celebrity could have named their daughter Freda and everyone would have loved it. Waiting for the arrival of Shiloh Nouvel was like waiting for the second coming of the Messiah. In fact, CNN.com actually commented 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’.” It was that kind of year.

Related Links

• Celebrity Babies 2006 Complete List