Thursday, January 26, 2012

My Name Is Tallulah

Today's news that Demi Moore was hospitalised for inhaling "whip its" (nitrous oxide) for fun made my heart sink. In fact, I'm mad at her. Not that I'm bothered by what she inhales. I'm mad because she's in the news again. And because both our daughters are called Tallulah.

Source: Demi and Tallulah, 16,  at a fashion show last year

When we named our Tallulah nearly 11 years ago, we wanted a name that was unusual but not dodgy. "Make sure you name her something where she can be Prime Minister of New Zealand" said one friend. "Make sure it doesn't sound like someone who's working the pole" said another. We were living in London at the time and the newspapers were full of the just-released CIA file on Tallulah Bankhead (what a dame!)

We were vaguely aware that Demi and Bruce had a daughter called Tallulah, now 17, but they seemed to be spending a low key life in Hailey, Idaho. Both their careers seemed on the ebb. Turns out, Demi actually made make seven films over the ensuing years but none of them rang any bells and after seeing Charlie's Angel the critics fixated on how she must have spent a lot of time whitening her teeth.

Image: Rex
I don't wish her any ill. She's not a bad actress, or not as bad as some would like to think. In About Last Night, she shone as a fabulously sexy girlfriend who had a funny friend.  Ghosts: kind of the same but older. Indecent Proposal: just sexy. Okay but what about A Few Good Men? She was stalwart and didn't get her kit off, which is considered good enough acting in some circles.

I felt sorry that her relationship with Ashton didn't work out (mind you it was an open relationship and she consoled herself in the arms of a 25-year-old.) I don't care that she's had an estimated $220,000 worth of plastic surgery.

It's just that I thought she was in Hailey, Idaho for the duration and it was safe to call our daughter the same name as her daughter.  Now she's everywhere and bouncing Angie off the magazine covers with her sad eyes and gaunt everything. Soon her daughter will be on those same covers.

Our Tallulah, 10, at home yesterday getting ready for Colonial Day at school

All we need now is for one of the Teen Moms to call their daughter Tallulah. In a Social Security Administration report, last year Maci (Teen Mom MTV) was the top trending name while Bentley (her son) was No.1 for boys.

Any new or comeback celebrity threatening to infringe on your name?

An edited version of this is on Huffington Post.

(Today I'm also over at BritMums writing about Giveways - can you attract more readers without losing cred?)

47 comments:

  1. oh please, i hope not! i totally get where you're coming from. but your tallulah has strong, stable parents, so she will ride it out and be the stronger of the two tallulahs!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Such a sad story for her and her family. Anytime I hear about adults acting that way when they have kids, it saddens me! Your Tallulah is very lucky to have such great parents! :) Fortunately for you and your family, your kids will turn out like their great parents!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Poor Demi. I think it was all downhill for her after St. Elmo's Fire. Those were the days.

    And FYI . . . your Tallulah is the cutest colonial I've ever seen!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just saw St Elmo's Fire - that still is a great movie!

      Delete
  4. I have a name... a secret name... that I have been keeping and hoarding and hiding....

    And now a Celebs daughter name her child the name. But I figure they are so far removed that it doesn't matter, right?

    There is actually another element that makes it more frustrating... but if I tell you that it will give it all away...

    Do I sound cryptic? I know.... I sound cryptic... I apologize.

    PS--- I love the name Tallulah and frankly would never get the 2 confused!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your Tallulah is going to be fine- there are all sorts of names that are brought into disrepute by criminals and celebs, if we tried to restrict naming our kids based on that the choices would be greatly reduced!!

    Were you aware of this at the time?
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/24/familyandrelationships.newzealand

    Different spelling though!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my gosh that is hilarious - but not for the parents - calling your daughter Tallula Does The Hula From Hawaii? You couldn't make it up!

      Delete
  6. this post made me laugh out loud, thank you!

    i missed the "news" about demi doing whip-its. pathetic.

    tallulah is a great name regardless of pathetic demi.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Couldn't agree more. The pathetic part and the tallulah part :).

      It's not that I don't feel bad for her... but I feel worse for her daughters... who have to bare the brunt of her insanity/"indulgence."

      Your daughter looks adddddddorable... the absolute best part of the entire post :).

      Delete
  7. Your Tallulah is oh-so-sweet! No one could infringe on that beauty! xo style, she wrote

    ReplyDelete
  8. that colonial outfit is adorbs.

    SoUtHeRnPiNkY.bLoGsPoT.cOm

    ReplyDelete
  9. If it makes you feel any better whenever I hear the name Tallulah I think of Yasmin & Simon Le Bons daughter. They seem like a lovely, stable couple with a lovely family. Just like your Tallulah who is too adorable for words :) xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ha. Well your Tallulah is pretty darn adorable...so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Tallulah looks fab in her costume! Have a lovely weekend:)
    ~Anne

    ReplyDelete
  12. It will pass. I had to live through the whole Mary Jo Buttafuaco thing and then there is that infamous Mary Jo that Ted Kennedy Sr. left to drown--you can image the look on his son's face when I was introduced-ha!

    I doubt that demi's Tallulah will ever cast a shadow on your angel!

    xo Mary Jo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Funnily enough a friend from book club was imitating the first Mary Jo the other night..."My Joey wouldn't do that to me"

      Delete
  13. I first came across the name Tallulah when I was a child in the supercat stories
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallulah_Supercat

    I thought it was a cool name and if I'd had a daughter, Tallulah was high on my secret names wish list. Your daughter looks a sweetie and I doubt she'll have anything to worry about from the fallout of Demi's daughter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah, I'm going to show Tallulah this! Also forgot that of course Tallulah is the name of that very cool chicken in those children's books.

      Delete
  14. Your Tallulah is so cute!!! I love her costume!!

    Have a great weekend, sweeties!!

    xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  15. I feel your pain. When I named my 16 year old, his name was so unusual they didn't know how to spell it in the hospital and I had to explain its origins to everyone. Now, there are millions of them running around. Son has a sense of humor about it and calls them his minions but I'm gutted!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our second-named Jackson became viral as soon as we walked through the gates of Ravenstone House nursery in Bayswater.

      Delete
  16. I feel your pain but Tallulah is such a fabulous name I can see why you picked it! I always think of Jodie Foster as that teen singer in Bugsy Malone - what a great song 'My name is Tallulah'! My youngest daughter has a very unusual name that I am not going to mention here in case some preggo chick nicks the name and it goes global!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fair enough! And the irony in writing this, is of course, the name is even better known.

      Delete
  17. Well the good news is that its a beautiful name no matter what. I feel sorry for Demi - sounds like she has some serious problems....

    ReplyDelete
  18. Regardless, it is a beautiful name and you should be proud to have chosen it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Yup, it's still a great name. Hopefully Demi's Talluluah won't be famous for more than 15 minutes. I still can't get over that her eldest is called Rumer. I also loved the author Rumer Godden (who I believe she is named after) - I found it weird, and slightly unbelieveable, that Demi Moore liked her too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes and the other is Scout...maybe she's more literary than she looks.

      Delete
  20. I wasn't aware that she was in the news again and should I be embarrassed or proud to say I have no idea what "whips it" is/are? I love the name Tallulah!! Our daughter's name is Olivia and while there are no poorly behaved pop stars or teen moms (that I know of) it still irks me how popular the name has become. We thought we had chosen a name unheard of since the days of Olivia Newton John.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes me too on the "whip its" pre this.. Turns out they are called the "teen drug' sounds like its inhaling from a aerosol can, basically.

      Delete
    2. More than you'll ever want to know about "whip it's"
      http://gawker.com/5879695/a-quick-guide-to-doing-whip+its-without-having-a-demi-moore+like-seizure

      Delete
  21. Your Tallulah sounds MUUCH better off!

    xo,
    amanda

    ReplyDelete
  22. I'd rather be known for being named after a wine :)
    http://www.tallulahwines.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that reminds me... we (me, not Tallulah) tried that at a local restaurant - and really liked it.

      Delete
  23. Tallulah is such a pretty name and far too classy for Teen Moms!

    ReplyDelete
  24. lol..liked your post.

    run-style-run.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm sorry I mis-spelt it! Tallulah looks gorgeous in those clothes.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I agree, you kinda hope those sort of marriages will survive..... a triumph of hope over experience...... but then they crash and burn........oh Demi Demi Demi.....it's all going to end in more tears!!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Eeek. I know what you mean. We have chosen such a common name that there are about a million examples into all kind of directions. There are nobel prize winners, hookers, teachers, actresses, models, politicians... all with the same name. I feel pretty safe.

    ReplyDelete
  28. amazing blog!!!i'm following you!!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. The news broke my heart. Seriously, I hate gossip and celebrity gossip particularly but this news truly made me so mad I gossiped about it. I thought NO! How could she? Why? These are our roll models now? So sad. I feel sad for Emma, so sad that one day she'll see all the glamour and may want to be like them but who are they really. No one knows.

    ReplyDelete
  30. So sad. How could she do whip-its? It's so very confusing why someone her age would do something that foolish. I love the name Tallulah and don't really make the immediate connection to Demi's daughter. It's a very pretty name! Your daughter is adorable!
    $220,000 on plastic surgery! Unbelievable!

    xx

    ReplyDelete
  31. Thankfully no. Both our girls have names that are not hugely popular, but known.
    It was hard to name them, because every time my husband suggested one, I had a story about a girl who had "that name" :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. i'm so sorry for the children of these celebrities... they get to live all the craziness of the parents and have nothing to do with it...

    That is definitely a beautiful name!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Had my son been a daughter he would have been named Riley Scout...Scout for To Kill A Mockingbird, but Demi also has a daughter named such.
    I am annoyed with her too...I know she is human and all, but if the tweeting bikini pics didn't say "regressing" than the whip it's certainly have....

    ReplyDelete
  34. Love your daughter's name...get this, my oldest daughter (age 12) her middle name is Blue...that would be 12 long years before Beyonce and Jayzee thought to do that!:)

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...