See, that's much more reasonable.

Follow up to my entry in June.

Remember little baby 4real? His parents, upon discovering that they were actually having a baby, were inspired to name him something including a number. They said it was in recognition that the couple's baby was now "for real". I suppose the kid is lucky he didn't have a slightly more capricious or vindictive name, like Morning Sickness.

Well, the naming authority in New Zealand denied their petition. Adios, 4real. What did the parents decide to name him instead? What about "Foreal", which might actually be a real name? No, they didn't choose that, possibly because that makes a bit of sense. Instead, they have chosen "Superman".

Err...yeah. I'm starting to get the feeling that this couple may NOT really be ready for the responsibility of having a kid. When your top two names are 1) something with a number and 2) the superhero name of the most famous comic book character, you really need to buy a baby name book. Finding out you have a baby is not the time to indulge in the all the improperly-vetted names of your childhood memories, like Superman, Voltron, Ferrari, or Butthead.

I'm aware that Nicholas Cage named his son "Kal-el", the Kryptonian name of Superman. Somehow, this is slightly better, but only because it's less recognizable and could pass for a really bizarre Arabic name. But only if you never meet any actual Arabs. Plus, when the child is still young, it basically only informs on the parents. For example, I now know without a shadow of doubt that Nicholas Cage is a nerd. No matter what movies I now see him in, even if he were to wrest control of the Die Hard franchise away from Bruce Willis: he'll always be a major nerd.

Gwyneth Paltrow has two kids. Apple and Moses, which together sounds like some strange Biblical video-crossover with VeggiTales less-profitable cousin, FruityTales. Incidentally, a slight spelling change to "Fruity Tails" is probably the name of a unsuccessful gay bar somewhere.

I'm all for strange names, because there are an awful lot of us. In China, 94.8 million people are named Li, for example. 90% of the Chinese population uses one of 50 particular names. I'm not attacking China, but the population is so high, it always makes for spectacular statistics. On a more local front, I came across a bookstore attendant the other day name "Saeraeh", which is pronounced "Sarah". I asked. She probably finds ONLY herself when searching Google.

I may be interested in strange names, but I'm mostly interested in original ones. Calling your son Yukon and your daughter Pillsbury just isn't giving it enough thought, period.