[name]Peaches[/name] Geldof and her husband [name]Thomas[/name] [name]Cohen[/name] have welcomed their second son, [name]Phaedra[/name]. He joins older brother Astala. [name]Peaches[/name] is the daughter of the Boomtown Rats musician Sir [name]Bob[/name] Geldof and the late [name]Paula[/name] Yates. [name]Phaedra[/name] arrived on [name]April[/name] 24th which would have been her mother’s 54th birthday. [name]Peaches[/name] is thought to have named her new bundle of joy after her favourite band [name]Tangerine[/name] [name]Dream[/name]'s 1974 album, [name]Phaedra[/name]
This is one “celebrity” couple that isn’t afraid to use more feminine choices for their sons. What do you Berries think about the name for a boy?
Ummmm. It’s interesting. I want to say I hate it, but it fits right in with the family so it works.
Still wouldn’t name my son [name]Phaedra[/name], but in Spanish there’s a saying that roughly translated means “colors were made for different tastes.”
If you’re going to choose a girl’s name for a boy, use something that isn’t so feminine-sounding. [name]Phaedra[/name] has been a girls name for thousands of years. If you are going to do this, I recommend an unpopular name with little history that doesn’t, in most cases, end in A.
Still think it’s odd on a boy but there definitely has been worse celebrity baby names.
It’s so lovely that he was born on [name]Paula[/name]'s birthday, I’m sure that means a lot to [name]Peaches[/name].
I’m impressed by their daring! Lots of celebs (and non-celebs) go for quirky/strange… but a girl name on a boy? That’s truly bold! I admire their guts! [name]Phaedra[/name] isn’t a name I like, but it fits very well with Astala.
I think it’s kind of cool in a way. I mean girls are always taking boys names, so I’m glad to see a boy with a girl’s name. I wouldn’t use [name]Phaedra[/name] for either gender, but it’s cute. It could look masculine enough to me.
Then again there is the somewhat-famous [name]Artemis[/name] Fowl series by [name]Eoin[/name] Colfer about a teenage boy / criminal mastermind. Great set of stories, but [name]Artemis[/name] is traditionally (for thousands of years) a girl’s name. [name]Plenty[/name] of names change genders of become unisex over time. Why not [name]Phaedra[/name]?
Not a fan of [name]Phaedra[/name] but I love Astala
Good point! I like [name]Artemis[/name]. Of course [name]Artemas[/name]/[name]Artemus[/name] is the ‘boy’ spelling but you’re still giving your son a woman’s name regardless of how you spell it.
Thanks everyone for their opinions. While I applaud their bravery in reversing the “boys names for a girl” trend, I have to think of their son above all else. I wouldn’t have minded if they chose names like [name]Meredith[/name], [name]Evelyn[/name], [name]Jocelyn[/name], [name]Esme[/name] or some other formerly male name that has crossed over to the female camp. Personally, some names just cross the line and take it too far out of my comfort zone and [name]Phaedra[/name] is an example. I have a hard time imagining a boy with this name. My wish for him is that he doesn’t get teased or bullied too much when he begins school. I also hope he’s about 6"5" and built like a tank so he can take care of himself if the occasion arises.
I don’t like [name]Phaedra[/name] for a boy for a couple of reasons.
1 It’s a FEMALE mythological character (yes, I’m a traditionalist when it comes to names and gender and I’m not going to apologize for it Different strokes for different folks).
2 It sounds really feminine (first syllable sounds like the girls name [name]Faye[/name] and it ends in an “a” which is commonly a female ending (excluding some male names in the Bible and others).
3 Multiple meanings of the similar word “fey” may cause problems for a boy in the future:
a) “[name]Fey[/name]” is a derogatory word often used to describe an “effeminate male”; often gay men are called “fairies”. (I hope his classmates aren’t aware of this fact or they’ll be lots of teasing).
b) British/Scottish word for “doomed or fated to die” (Yes, we’re all going to die someday but I wouldn’t want to be reminded of it when saying my child’s name).
c) A word meaning “wild or crazy acting”, often ascribed to supernatural causes and evidenced by abnormal behavior eccentric or strange.
Yes, “[name]Fey[/name]” does mean those things… but “[name]Fay[/name]” is a well-established name that doesn’t bring to mind any of those things. When someone mentions [name]Faye[/name] Dunaway, no one thinks of effeminate men/being doomed to die/acting crazy. It’s name all on its own. And women can be pretty awesome. Mythological deities, even better.
It’s been my experience that adults make far more of a ruckus over ‘name teasing’ than children actually do. They’re children, after all. They don’t know what a ‘normal name’ is. If it weren’t for parents’ comments, other kids wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between [name]Ezra[/name], [name]Jonah[/name], [name]Phaedra[/name], and [name]Luca[/name]. Certain kids will get picked on, regardless of their names. Sometimes it’s a [name]Christopher[/name] or a [name]Matthew[/name]. It has nothing to do with the name at all.
If more people considered using boys names that end in “a”, then more people wouldn’t automatically assume that a name ending in “a” belongs to a girl. Since famous people are generally the trailblazers, making such formerly “out-there” names as [name]Serafina[/name] and [name]Ignatius[/name] viable options for the masses, I appreciate it when celebrities choose “a”-ending names for their sons. That being said, I don’t particularly like [name]Phaedra[/name] for either boys or girls, but Astala is a very cool name for a boy.
