Seven Kiwi celebrities who gave their babies unusual names
- Publish Date
- Thursday, 14 September 2017, 11:00AM
Nadia Lim and her son, Bodhi. Photo / Instagram
When your mother is Kiwi singer Gin Wigmore and your father is hardcore punk singer Jason Aalon Butler, you're not likely going to be named something traditional like Kevin or Brian.
And so it was when Wigmore and Butler's baby boy was born last week, a "young prince" who shall forever be known as Ivory Nashoba.
But Wigmore is far from being the only Kiwi star to give her child an unusual name.
Here are a few other celebrities' kids who likely won't share a name with anybody in their class at school.
Jemaine Clement
When Jemaine Clement and his wife Miranda Manasiadis named their son Sophocles in 2008, the moniker very nearly took out babynames.com's award for worst celebrity baby name that year.
That seems a bit harsh. Especially when we live in a world where celebrities name their children Rocket Zot, Royal Reign and Moxie Crimefighter.
Anika Moa and Natasha Utting
Singer Anika Moa and her wife, journalist Natasha Utting, have three sons between them, with twins Barry and Taane from Moa's previous relationship, and two-year-old Soren.
Soren is named after Utting's Danish great-great-great-grandfather, and while it might be an unusual name in New Zealand, it's rather less so in Scandinavian countries.
If anything, Moa's boy Barry probably turns more heads with his name these days. Moa told the Herald herself "[Barry's] just such a quirky name, you know?
"I was telling my mum on the phone, there's Taane Diamond and she was like 'Ohh, kia ora' and Barry Kowhai and she was like 'Soooo, what was the name?'"
Brooke Fraser
Kiwi singer Brooke Fraser meanwhile is rocking a merry little girl gang over in the US.
Earlier this year, she gave birth to a girl she and her husband named Rooney Ives, a little buddy for their two-year-old daughter, Dylan.
Fraser celebrated her "dream baby" last week, telling her Instagram fans: "LABOR DAY // Today marks my very own labour day when our large, yummy, squishy island princess Rooney Ives arrived."
Libby Matthews
Celebrity foodie Libby Matthews has admitted there's confusion when she introduces strangers to her cute-as-a-button daughter, Maxwell.
Matthews and her partner, footballer Michael Boxall, welcomed sweet Maxwell Milou last New Year's Eve, and according to a blog post Matthews wrote, she's been explaining the name ever since.
"I've had plenty of comments from people who say it's a cruel or silly choice for a girl," she wrote.
"Others have said it's confusing or unfair to her growing up, but I think you've got to do what works for your family.
"When I'm standing in the supermarket and have to repeatedly explain 'It's Maxwell, but she's a girl,' I do start to second guess myself.
"But to us, Max is cute and perfect for our little baby, so I'm trying not to listen to critics."
Nadia Lim
When they were expecting their first baby, celebrity chef Nadia Lim and her husband Carlos Bagrie both randomly came up with the same unusual name as their top pick for a boy: Bodhi.
But their reasons for choosing the name couldn't have been more different.
"It was bizarre," Lim told Next magazine. "We both love the name for very different reasons. Carlos' favourite movie when he was a teen was Point Break, and Bodhi was the cool surfer dude main character.
"I love it because of the Bodhi tree that Buddha sat under and found enlightenment. My dad was Buddhist, plus the Bodhi tree is really beautiful."
Ido Drent
When actor Ido Drent and his wife Mandy welcomed their first baby in 2015, they bestowed upon him the name Bastion Dirk.
But in true Kiwi fashion, the young fella is now simply known as Baz.
Nikki Phillips and Dane Rumble
So ecstatic were Dane Rumble and Nikki Phillips to finally meet their much-longed-for baby in July, they took a day or two to decide on his name after his birth. But they eventually settled on the name Jett.
Phillips told The Daily Telegraph it was a name she and her husband had both favoured from the beginning of her pregnancy.
"He just suited Jett."
This article was first published on Spy and is republished here with permission.
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