Names in the News: Luca, Indica, X AE A-Xii

Some recent baby names from the news…

Indica: A baby girl born in the U.S. (in Baltimore?) in February of 2020 was named Indica, after the strain of cannabis. Indica has an older sister named SaTiva, after another strain of cannabis. (Metro)

Luca: A baby boy born in Ohio in December of 2019 was named Luca in honor of Dr. Luca Vricella, the pediatric cardiac surgeon who’d operated on Luca’s late older brother, Jack. (IndeOnline)

Ranvijay: A baby boy born in India in March of 2020 was named Mohammad Ranvijay, middle name in honor of police officer Ranvijay Singh, who’d helped the baby’s father attend the birth during lockdown. (NDTV)

Smokey: A baby boy born in New South Wales, Australia, in November of 2019 — while the Gospers Mountain fire was burning — was named Smokey. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas: The baby boy born in England in April of 2020 to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, was named Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas — Wilfred after Boris’s grandfather, Lawrie after Carrie’s grandfather, and Nicholas after Dr. Nicholas Price and Prof. Nicholas Hart, “the two doctors that saved Boris’s life last month.” (The Guardian)

Wyatt: The baby boy born in April of 2020 to news anchor Anderson Cooper was named Wyatt after Anderson’s late father, Wyatt Cooper. (PinkNews)

X AE A-Xii: The baby boy born in California in May of 2020 to entrepreneur Elon Musk and musician Grimes was initially named X Æ A-12. (The “A-12” part refers to the Lockheed A-12 aircraft.) On the birth certificate, though, is an altered version of the name: X AE A-Xii. (BBC, People)

P.S. Speaking of both Smokey and the ligature Æ (pronounced “ash”)…the first baby koala born at the Australian Reptile Park in New South Wales following the New South Wales bushfires was named Ash. (CNN)

Covid, Corona, Lockdown: More Virus-Inspired Baby Names

A couple of weeks ago I posted about a pair of Filipino babies allegedly named Covid.

Last week, at least four more newborns with virus-inspired names — all from India — made headlines.

One was a baby girl named Corona, another was a baby boy named Lockdown, and the last two were boy-girl twins named Covid and Corona.

Corona was born the day the Janata Curfew went into effect (March 22). She was named by her uncle, Nitesh Tripathi, who said: “The virus is no doubt dangerous and it has killed so many people in the world, but it has also inculcated many good habits in us and brought the world closer. This baby will be the symbol of people’s unity to fight the evil.”

Lockdown was born last Monday. He was named by his father, Pawan Prasad, who explained: “He was born during lockdown. We appreciate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to enforce lockdown and save the people from the coronavirus pandemic. The lockdown is in national interest and so we decided to name the child as Lockdown.”

Covid and Corona were born on March 27. Their mother, Preeti Verma, said: “The delivery happened after facing several difficulties, and therefore, me and my husband wanted to make the day memorable. We finally decided to name them after the pandemic. […] We wished to ease the anxiety and fear associated with these words and also make the occasion memorable.”

Thoughts?

Sources: After ‘Corona’ girl, newborn named ‘Lockdown’ in India, Two UP families name their babies ‘Corona’ and ‘Lockdown’, Baby twins named Corona and Covid after lockdown birth in India

2 Filipino Babies Named Covid?

At least two babies in the Philippines may have been named Covid after Covid-19, the acronym for “coronavirus disease 2019.”

Neither name — “Covid Rose” or “Covid Bryant” — has been confirmed yet, but both were among the top Twitter trends in the Philippines last week. (It was said that Covid Bryant’s middle name was inspired by late NBA legend Kobe Bryant.)

Thoughts on “Covid” as a name?

Update: I wrote this post a couple of days ago, and since then a third baby in the Philippines has allegedly gotten a virus-inspired name: Coviduvidapdap. It’s a portmanteau of Covid and “dubi dubi dap dap” [vid] — nonsense words from the lyrics of the novelty song “Beep Beep Beep Ang Sabi Ng Jeep” by Filipino singer Willie Revillame.

Sources: Future ‘quaranteens’? Covid Bryant and Covid Rose trend as Filipino newborns supposedly named after virus (from ABS-CBN — also a name!), From ‘Coronnials’ to ‘quaranteens’: Internet users predict future of kids named after COVID-19

Train Baby Named Marion

In January of 1910, Cleveland-based pastor W. J. Vernon and his pregnant wife were riding through Ohio aboard a southbound passenger train. As the train reached Marion, Ohio, Mrs. Vernon gave birth to a baby girl. “The baby was named Marion, in honor of the first stop in her journey in the world.”

Source: “Born on Railway Train.” St. Joseph News-Press 24 Jan. 1910: 7.