What's in a Name? Nicole Richie's Son, Sparrow James Midnight
Credit: Fame Pictures
Nameberry.com editors Pamela Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz -- who penned the books Baby Name Bible and Beyond Ava & Aiden -- are blogging for UsMagazine.com about why celebs choose the names they do, and what they mean.
Happy first birthday, Sparrow James Midnight Madden!
The son of Nicole Richie and Joel Madden, who arrived on notable 9-9-09, has a name even more notable than that of big sister Harlow Winter Kate.
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Sparrow, which shares Harlow's ending in both spelling and sound, is of course a bird name, which is the hottest class of the hot animal names. Other fashionable bird choices are Wren and Lark. Birds carry a great deal of spiritual symbolism, standing for flight, freedom, light and soaring upward.
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Sparrow's name also mirrors sister Harlow's in that he has two middle names, one conventional and one that's a contemporary spin on ancient African day names, which traditionally reference the time of day, day of the week or season of the year a child is born. Winter and Midnight are modern versions of names such as Friday, Afternoon and Christmas, found among early African-Americans.
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Harlow Madden was born in winter; Sparrow arrived soon after midnight.
Sparrow and Harlow also relate in that both can be used for either boys or girls. In 2009, there were 17 newborn boys given the name Harlow (and 299 girls, thanks to its popularization by Little Miss Madden), and 16 girls named Sparrow. But fewer than five boys were named Sparrow, though that may change in the 2010 tally.
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Parents are more open these days to giving boys names also used for girls. Some examples we're seeing that are widely used for both genders: Cameron, Riley, Peyton, Avery, Dakota and Quinn.
Tell Us What You Think
7Happy Birthday Sparrow. Cute sockoes :-)
WHATEVER!!! Her kids... her choice to name them. At least they don't have the same common name as always: Ryan, Liam, Johnathan, Austin...Jessica, Emma, Katie, blah, blah. I LOVE her originality. Btw, Happy Birthday, Sparrow. He's a cutie!
WHATEVER!!! Her kids... her choice to name them. You guys want At least they don't have the same common name as always: Ryan, Liam, Johnathan, Austin...Jessica, Emma, Katie, blah, blah. I LOVE her originality. Btw, Happy Birthday, Sparrow. He's a cutie!
I feel sorry for these poor kids that get saddled with these idiotic names by their numbskull parents. Those poor kids will be sooo picked on in school. It's tragic.
Winten and Midnight were the two main characters in "The Coldest Winter Ever."
happy birthday sparrow. names don't really matter celeb kids are named after litterary or film Characters all the time. same with Biblical names like Mary Rachel & Ruth for girls and James Jude and Luke for boys. besides Us Magazine forgot some other names that are used for both boys and girls as in Ashley Courtney & Lee. or that sometimes people are born with one name and when they become known change their name to something simillar but not to be confused for example academy award winning actress Patricia Neal's given name at birth was Patsy but her mentor when she became a successful broadway actress in the 1940's changed it to Patricia because he thought Patsy was to Juvenille for an actress so talented. and the name stuck for the rest of her life. or the same can be said of a certain mother from a classic television series that would be Olivia the mothers name on the Waltons. as Ms Neal had played her in the original Pilot film Homecoming A Christmas Story in 1971 and had insisted she be named olivia in memory of her eldest daughter who had passed away 9 years earlier of the meseals. but after the movie producers didn't ask her to comeback for the series because they thought she wouldn't be able to handle it because of the lingering affects of a series of strokes she'd had in 1965 while she was pregnant with her youngest daughter Lucy.
Happy 1st birtday Sparrow,your a cutie!!