It’s Not Zowie Bowie, It’s Duncan Jones

Those of us who follow celebrity baby names know all the oldies: Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet, Diva…Fifi, Peaches, Little Pixie…River, Rain, Joaquin, Liberty, Summer…and, of course, Zowie.

But, as it turns out, David Bowie’s son Zowie is not really named Zowie. His legal name is Duncan Zowie Hayward Jones. He went by Zowie as a child, Joe/Joey as a teen, and has been called Duncan ever since.

According to USA Today’s There is rhyme–and reason–to Duncan Jones’ name, Duncan’s mother invented “Zowie” by altering the spelling of Zoë to make it seem more masculine.

How does Duncan sum up the media’s obsession with his name?

They latched on to Zowie and the fact it rhymed with Bowie. Easy laughs.

Poor kid. He seems to have adjusted well, though. He’s now a movie director, and his debut film, Moon, is currently out in theaters.