Baby Names
So, Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin named their new baby son Moses.
I hope they call it Mo for short.
I like abbreviating to Mo. I think this stems from when I read the book Go Tell It on the Mountain in college but there was a GW bookstore sticker covering it, so the title actually read Go Tell It on the Mo. I continually got a good laugh out of that.
And then, just recently in an email, I abbreviated the title of the new movie Friends with Money, to Friends with Mo. (I saw Friends with Mo yesterday, it's good - at one point, I actually turned to my friend during a well-acted scene and said "look at Rachel Green go."). So you see, I'm used to Mo.
I may be one of the few people that liked the name Apple. I really like apples. My Dad REALLY likes apples. He has a book about them and it's his goal to try like, every apple there is. Whenever I go to the country house, he sends me back to Curry Hill with apples (and oranges and grapefruits - I don't think he realizes that I'm not up every morning at dawn making fruit salad). I think Apple is a cute name. It sounds very clean and adorable and wealthy (I think apple, then Steve Jobs, then iPODs). I do wonder when Gwyneth and Chris first realized that they'd named their daughter one letter shy of apple martini.
You may be wondering why I'm blogging about this. Here's the thing, I'm really into names. I love them - I love naming characters, I sometimes (always?) judge people by their names and how they spell them, and for a long time, I've thought about what I'm going to name my babies. When I was still a child myself, I got this baby name book called Beyond Jennifer and Jason that put baby names into all these very specific categories. "Celebrity baby names" was one of the categories. Other categories, if my memory serves, were "old fashioned names," "Shakespearean names," and "androgynous names." I think it's funny how we associate certain names with the people in our lives. I'm fascinated by what names are popular and how/why this changes. In fact, I just googled Beyond Jennifer and Jason and the new edition is called Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana. Ha!
If I had been a boy instead, my name was going to be Oliver. I like the name Oliver, though I don't know if I love Ollie. It reminds me of Upper West Side Chinese food. I like the name Susan. I'm named after my Aunt. I like that it's abbreviate-able but doesn't have to be. I like that people call me Sue or Susie but then other people are like "you don't look like a Sue at all." I like that it's not too new - if I'd been named Tiffany, I could've turned into some vapid self-hating cheerleader.
The names that I like for my future children haven't changed all that much over the years. Although I did used to want to name my son Jack Henry and then I heard about THREE people that have sons named Jack Henry (two of them celebrities - Susan Sarandon and Meg "I have the worst plastic surgeon" Ryan) and now apparently, Jack is the most popular name in America. So, I'm sort of over it, even though it would've been a nice homage to my Grandpa Jack and Jack Harari, my first boyfriend at camp. I'd tell you what I'm going to name my daughter but I don't want you to steal it and I don't need the scrutiny. I do feel sort of bad for celebrities in that sense, this Moses kid is 1 day old and already being mocked, but celebrities don't do themselves any favors.
Mo Martin. Apparently Moses is named not after THE Moses, as in the one who led the Exodus of Hebrews from Egypt, for Gwyneth as we could tell from her macrobiotic diet which is an affront to Judaism, is only half Jewish. Apparently Moses is named after a Coldplay song. As my friend Kate and I realized, Clocks Martin has a much better ring to it. But I guess we should all be glad he's not named God Put a Smile on My Face Martin. Though I do think Parachutes Martin has a lovely ring to it as well.
I remember once I was trying to guess my then-boyfriend's brand new nephew's name. My first guess was Zach. He looked at me dumbfounded and then said "I don't know anyone named Zach." Then I look at him dumbfounded. There were like NINE Zach's in my grade at school (okay, I think 4, but still). It was at that moment that I realized that Zach might be more of a Jewish name than I'd realized. (His nephew's name turned out to be...KEVIN).
Last names are a whole other ball of wax. I can't remember when exactly I realized it, but I recall that at some point maybe around twelve years old, I realized that my full name might as well be Susan Jew. Don't get me wrong, I love being a Goldberg, but there's no mystery there. My last name telegraphs my religion. But Susan and Goldberg go well together. I think that's important. Well, I mean, in the effort of full disclosure, for the few of you that don't know, my full name is Susan Erin Wittenberg Goldberg. Quite a mouthful. But I like it. The Berg/Berg thing is no joke, but I like that my mom's maiden name is my middle name. And you know, how can I complain? The elevator man at the country house while I was growing up - his name was Hugh Hughes. That guy had a valid complaint.
But yeah, I like names. It might be weird, but it's true.
And I don't dislike the name Moses. I mean, before Moses Martin, when I thought of the name Moses, did I think about some scrawny, rich, Blond, half-British boy, doing Baby Yoga with his Mum & Dad in the West Village? No. But that's okay.
Most importantly, I think Mo Martin helped me think of the perfect name for Angelina and Brad's spawn.
Wait for it.
RAMSES.
I hope they call it Mo for short.
I like abbreviating to Mo. I think this stems from when I read the book Go Tell It on the Mountain in college but there was a GW bookstore sticker covering it, so the title actually read Go Tell It on the Mo. I continually got a good laugh out of that.
And then, just recently in an email, I abbreviated the title of the new movie Friends with Money, to Friends with Mo. (I saw Friends with Mo yesterday, it's good - at one point, I actually turned to my friend during a well-acted scene and said "look at Rachel Green go."). So you see, I'm used to Mo.
I may be one of the few people that liked the name Apple. I really like apples. My Dad REALLY likes apples. He has a book about them and it's his goal to try like, every apple there is. Whenever I go to the country house, he sends me back to Curry Hill with apples (and oranges and grapefruits - I don't think he realizes that I'm not up every morning at dawn making fruit salad). I think Apple is a cute name. It sounds very clean and adorable and wealthy (I think apple, then Steve Jobs, then iPODs). I do wonder when Gwyneth and Chris first realized that they'd named their daughter one letter shy of apple martini.
You may be wondering why I'm blogging about this. Here's the thing, I'm really into names. I love them - I love naming characters, I sometimes (always?) judge people by their names and how they spell them, and for a long time, I've thought about what I'm going to name my babies. When I was still a child myself, I got this baby name book called Beyond Jennifer and Jason that put baby names into all these very specific categories. "Celebrity baby names" was one of the categories. Other categories, if my memory serves, were "old fashioned names," "Shakespearean names," and "androgynous names." I think it's funny how we associate certain names with the people in our lives. I'm fascinated by what names are popular and how/why this changes. In fact, I just googled Beyond Jennifer and Jason and the new edition is called Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana. Ha!
If I had been a boy instead, my name was going to be Oliver. I like the name Oliver, though I don't know if I love Ollie. It reminds me of Upper West Side Chinese food. I like the name Susan. I'm named after my Aunt. I like that it's abbreviate-able but doesn't have to be. I like that people call me Sue or Susie but then other people are like "you don't look like a Sue at all." I like that it's not too new - if I'd been named Tiffany, I could've turned into some vapid self-hating cheerleader.
The names that I like for my future children haven't changed all that much over the years. Although I did used to want to name my son Jack Henry and then I heard about THREE people that have sons named Jack Henry (two of them celebrities - Susan Sarandon and Meg "I have the worst plastic surgeon" Ryan) and now apparently, Jack is the most popular name in America. So, I'm sort of over it, even though it would've been a nice homage to my Grandpa Jack and Jack Harari, my first boyfriend at camp. I'd tell you what I'm going to name my daughter but I don't want you to steal it and I don't need the scrutiny. I do feel sort of bad for celebrities in that sense, this Moses kid is 1 day old and already being mocked, but celebrities don't do themselves any favors.
Mo Martin. Apparently Moses is named not after THE Moses, as in the one who led the Exodus of Hebrews from Egypt, for Gwyneth as we could tell from her macrobiotic diet which is an affront to Judaism, is only half Jewish. Apparently Moses is named after a Coldplay song. As my friend Kate and I realized, Clocks Martin has a much better ring to it. But I guess we should all be glad he's not named God Put a Smile on My Face Martin. Though I do think Parachutes Martin has a lovely ring to it as well.
I remember once I was trying to guess my then-boyfriend's brand new nephew's name. My first guess was Zach. He looked at me dumbfounded and then said "I don't know anyone named Zach." Then I look at him dumbfounded. There were like NINE Zach's in my grade at school (okay, I think 4, but still). It was at that moment that I realized that Zach might be more of a Jewish name than I'd realized. (His nephew's name turned out to be...KEVIN).
Last names are a whole other ball of wax. I can't remember when exactly I realized it, but I recall that at some point maybe around twelve years old, I realized that my full name might as well be Susan Jew. Don't get me wrong, I love being a Goldberg, but there's no mystery there. My last name telegraphs my religion. But Susan and Goldberg go well together. I think that's important. Well, I mean, in the effort of full disclosure, for the few of you that don't know, my full name is Susan Erin Wittenberg Goldberg. Quite a mouthful. But I like it. The Berg/Berg thing is no joke, but I like that my mom's maiden name is my middle name. And you know, how can I complain? The elevator man at the country house while I was growing up - his name was Hugh Hughes. That guy had a valid complaint.
But yeah, I like names. It might be weird, but it's true.
And I don't dislike the name Moses. I mean, before Moses Martin, when I thought of the name Moses, did I think about some scrawny, rich, Blond, half-British boy, doing Baby Yoga with his Mum & Dad in the West Village? No. But that's okay.
Most importantly, I think Mo Martin helped me think of the perfect name for Angelina and Brad's spawn.
Wait for it.
RAMSES.
posted by Susan Goldberg at 4:58 PM
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