This week is Celebrate Your Name Week, and each day is dedicated to a specific, special, way to celebrate your name, and the names of others. Today, Tuesday, March 8, 2011, is the day entirely dedicated to names that are unique. Does someone in your family have an unusual first name?
Yesterday, was Fun Facts Monday, a day when it is perfectly acceptable to google yourself, and find out if there is anyone else with an online presence that shares your name. Yesterday, I used a website called “How Many Of Me”. I learned that there are one hundred and twelve other people in the United States that have the exact same first and last name that I do. My name is hardly unique. Such is the fate of anyone named Jennifer.
Today, Celebrate Your Name Week continues, with Unique Names Tuesday. This is a great day to delve through your family tree, and find out more about your ancestors who had strange sounding names. See if you can find out the story behind why their parents decided on such an unusual moniker for their child.
You know those little keychains that come with a person’s name painted on or engraved in them? It is pretty easy for me to find one with my name on it, because I have a very common name. Someone who has an especially unique name, or one that is spelled in an usual way, is not going to be as lucky. Today is a great day for you to make a specialized gift for someone you know who has a unique name.
Celebrities frequently give their children exceptionally unique names. Actor Nicholas Cage has a son named Kal-El, (yes, as in the name Superman was given before he came to Earth). Comedian Penn Jillette has a daughter named Moxie CrimeFighter, (which sounds like the name of a superhero).
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have children named Zahara Marley, Maddox Chivan Thornton, Shiloh Nouvel, and Pax Thien. Not one of them is going ever be able to find their name on a keychain. Sylvester Stallone has a daughter named Sage Moonblood, a name that would easily fit right into any of the multitude of supernatural romance novels that seem to be growing in popularity.
The Edge, from the band U2, has a child named Blue Angel, a name which brings to mind images of airplanes, flying in intricate formations. Gwyneth Paltrow has a child named Apple. I have no idea if this is supposed to be a reference to the fruit, or the computer company. Geri Halliwell, from the Spice Girls, has a child named Bluebell Madonna. If your name is unique, today is your day to celebrate it.
Image by Dan Foy on Flickr