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.
Zowie Bowie, the son of singer David Bowie, was born in 1971 in London.
As it turns out, though, he’s not really named Zowie. His legal name is Duncan Zowie Hayward Jones. (His father’s name is also not original: David Bowie was born David Jones.)
Duncan went by “Zowie” as a child, “Joe” or “Joey” as a teen, and has been called Duncan ever since.
Duncan’s mother invented the name “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.
Despite this, he seems to have adjusted well, though. He’s now a movie director, and his debut film, Moon, is currently out in theaters.