Category Archives: Sibsets in the News

Saturday Celebrity Sibset: Carla Zampatti – Italian Style

22 Saturday Sep 2012

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This is a celebrity sibset I’ve been wanting to cover for some time, as it’s been such an influential one.

Carla Zampatti is one of Australia’s most famous designers, and at 70, considered a matriarch of the industry. Originally from northern Italy, she moved to Australia during her childhood. Her first boutique opened during the early 1970s in Sydney, and she now has a chain of more than thirty stores across Australia. She has received many awards, including Designer of the Year, Businesswoman of the Year, and Australian Fashion Laureate, the highest honour in the Australian fashion industry.

Carla’s first husband was Leo Schuman, who she married in 1964 and divorced in 1970; their son is named Alexander (nn Alex) and he’s now on the board of his mother’s company.

In 1975 Carla married wealthy Liberal politician John Spender, a Yale graduate, barrister, and later, diplomat to France. They were divorced in 2010.

Their daughters are Allegra, who is now the General Manager of the company, and Bianca, who is a fashion designer and has her own label.

Alexander is a sturdy classic in Australia which has never left the Top 100. It was #29 for the 1900s, and reached its lowest point in the 1960s (when Alex Schuman was born) at #89. It surged upwards through the 1970s and ’80s to reach #17 in the 1990s. Since then it has remained stable, and is currently #16.

Bianca was in rare use in the 1960s, but in the 1970s, it absolutely skyrocketed to reach #139 for the decade. Top 100 by the 1980s, it peaked in the 1990s at #45. By 2010 it was still a very respectable #125, and last year it increased to #103, only just outside the Top 100.

Allegra has never been in the charts, but it is gaining in popularity, been chosen as a baby name by several celebrities, and has retained a great deal of cachet. Not only fashionable, it is also an appealing Italian heritage choice. I can’t help wondering if it is tomorrow’s Bianca?

Carla Zampatti has become a fashion institution by making classic clothes that can be worn for years, and she seems to have the same ability to select names that remain popular and stylish for decades. One of the amazing things about this sibset is that although the siblings are in their thirties and forties, you can easily imagine Alex, Allegra and Bianca as children born within the last couple of years.

(The picture shows Carla and her daughters around the mid-to late 1980s, I would guess; photo from David Jones, which has exclusive rights to both Carla Zampatti and Bianca Spender fashions)

Saturday Celebrity Sibsets: Children of Olympic Gold Medalists

04 Saturday Aug 2012

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As the London Olympics are still on, the Celebrity Sibsets for this week had to be children of Olympians. These are sibsets of those Australian Olympians who have won a gold medal at past Olympic Games, and still have young children.

Alyson Annan – hockey (marital partner: Carole Thate)

Sam Henk Brian (2007) and Cooper (2008)

Lauren Burns – taekwondo (husband: Nathan Muller)

Mac Banjo (2009) and Piper (2010)

Jamie Dwyer – hockey (wife: Leoni Dwyer)

Julian (2008) and Taj (2010)

Grant Hackett – swimming (estranged wife: Candice Alley)

Jagger Emilio and Charlize Alley (twins 2009)

Chantelle Newbery – diving (husband Robert Newbery)

Jet (2002) and Ryder (2006)

Susie O’Neill – swimming (husband Cliff Fairley)

Alix (2004) and William (2006)

Kieran Perkins – swimming (estranged wife: Symantha Perkins)

Georgia (1997), Harry (1998) and Charlie (female – 2005)

Adam Pine – swimming (wife: Sasha Pine)

Maxmilian (2002), Buster (2004) and Xander Xavier Adam (2010)

Petria Thomas – swimming (husband: Julian Jones)

Aiden (2006) and Zara (2009)

Todd Woodbridge – tennis (wife: Natasha Woodbridge)

Zara Rose (2000) and Beau Andrew (2002)

(Photo shows Jamie Dwyer with his family; Jamie is competing at the London Olympics, where he has set an Australian Olympic goals record)

Saturday Celebrity Sibsets: The Children of Four Celebrity Mothers

19 Saturday May 2012

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MELISSA DOYLE

Melissa Doyle is the co-host of Channel 7’s breakfast show, Sunrise. She has written a book on being a working mother, and used to write a newspaper column on the same topic. Mel is married to marketing executive John Dunlop, and their children are:

Nicholas “Nick” (aged 11)

Talia (aged 8)

YUMI STYNES

Yumi is one of the presenters of Channel 10’s morning show, The Circle. Her mother is originally from Japan, hence her Japanese name, which means “abundant beauty”. She contributes to magazines Filmink and Grazia, and is a regular blogger and film critic for Bigpond. Yumi is also the bass player and singer for the band The Punisherz (according to her, they are terrible). Currently engaged, Yumi used to be with Ben Ely, from the band Regurgitator, and together they had two daughters:

Anouk (aged 10)

Dee Dee (aged 7)

KATE CEBERANO

Kate is a pop singer whose career began in the 1980s; her father is an American of Filipino descent. Known for her womanly figure, she is the ambassador for Berlei Curves lingerie, will be Artistic Director of the 2012 and 2013 Adelaide Cabaret Festivals, and will star in Opera Australia’s upcoming musical, South Pacific. An active member of the Church of Scientology, she is married to music video director Lee Rogers, and they have one daughter:

Gypsy (aged 8)

KYLIE GILLIES

Kylie is co-host of Channel 7’s The Morning Show. She is married to Tony Gillies, editor-in-chief of news agency Australian Associated Press. Kylie and Tony have two sons :

Gus (aged 9)

Archie (aged 7)

(Article from The Daily Telegraph, May 13 2012; photo shows Yumi with her two girls)

Saturday Sibsets: Four Families from Tasmania

12 Saturday May 2012

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THE CIRCUS TROUPE

Kristy and Mark Sands run the Sands Family Circus. They began performing together in the mid-1990s, and initially planned on having two children, but ended up with a few more than that. All the children naturally learned circus skills, and became part of the act.

Jiemba (15) BOY – means “morning star” in the Wiradjuri language

Tohua (13) BOY – in Maori means “egg”; in Polynesia, a Tohua is a ceremonial meeting place

Spida (11) GIRL

Rain (9) BOY

Ooliki (3) BOY – I don’t know what his name means

Next child (due in July)

THE BABYSLING MUMPRENEUR

Anita Lincolne-Lomax turned her passion for attachment parenting into a business when she founded Babes in Arms several years ago. Babes in Arms sells baby carriers and baby slings throughout Australia and New Zealand, and last year Anita was named 2011 Mumpreneur of the Year by parenting website connect2mums.com.au, and Babes in Arms is a finalist in two categories of this year’s Australian Small Business Champion Awards. Her husband Ralph now works full-time in the company.

Tilli (8)

Jontae (5) – a variant of Jonte, a pet form of Jonathan

Aviya (3) – Hebrew name meaning “my father is Yahweh” (unisex)

Grace (7 months)

THE COOKS WHO COOK

Jo Cook is a chef and market curator, and food is her passion. A member of Slow Food Hobart, she runs Flavour Workshops for children, and volunteers at a primary school to work in their kitchen garden. Next she hopes to link up with the university to inspire a new generation to eat more mindfully and healthily. Of course, at home, the family connects around growing food, cooking meals and enjoying them together around the table.

Nina (10)

Charlie (8)

A FRESH START

Sarra Elradi came to Tasmania from Sudan with her four children to give them a better start in life. She had separated from her husband, and the family spent two years in Egypt, which they describe as “very tough”, because there was no one to help them. When they arrived in Australia, only Sarra’s eldest son could speak English, so they were on a steep learning curve; however they appreciate the education they are receiving and the opportunities that are available to them. Sarra’s daughters are both members of the Glenorchy Young Women’s Multicultural Group.

Elsawi BOY Arabic name meaning “servant of God”

Hanadi (15) GIRL Arabic name meaning “lovely fragrance”

Zeinab (12) GIRL Arabic name meaning “desert flower”

One other child

(Photo and story from The Hobart Mercury, May 11 2012)

Saturday Sibset from History: The Armytage Family of Como House

05 Saturday May 2012

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Como House in South Yarra, Melbourne, is one of the few remaining large estates still existing in the suburbs. It was built in 1847, just over a decade after European settlement of the Port Phillip district. For almost a century, it was owned by the Armytage family, wealthy graziers and prominent members of Melbourne society. Originally, the grounds were 54 acres, but today the house is surrounded by 6.5 acres of gardens. Como House is owned by the National Trust of Victoria.

These are the names of the members of the Armytage family, fairly typical for the nineteenth century, and also an interesting look at a slice of Melbourne history.

Charles Henry (1824-1876)

Born and educated in Tasmania, Charles was wealthy by inheritance, and increased the family fortune through working a large sheep holding outside Geelong, named Fulham Station. He bought Como House for forty thousand pounds in 1864 as his family’s town house, hearing about the sale at his club while in Melbourne on business. When his family moved to Melbourne, they soon established themselves as one of the premier families in the Government House set. He died of a pancreatic disorder just after a year after lavish extensions to the house were completed.

Caroline Morell nee Tuckwell (1832-1909)

Caroline was from England; she emigrated to Australia as a teenager with her family. Caroline was used to managing the sheep station during her husband’s absences, and once wrote that the happiest part of her life was teaching the Aboriginal children and worker’s children alongside her own. After being widowed, and left with extensive properties and investments to manage, Caroline took her nine children, a retinue of servants and two cows on a world tour for four years. (The cows were to feed the baby). During the tour, she sent crate-loads of mirrors, vases, chandeliers and furniture back to Como House.

Charles Norman Learmouth (1857-1942)

Educated at Geelong Grammar, Charles attended Cambridge University in England while the rest of of the family were on a world tour. At university, he rowed in the Cambridge eight, and his team won the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley. Married Leila Matilda Buckland Halloran in 1890. Charles was called by his middle name, Norman, to distinguish him from his father.

Ada Elizabeth (1859-1939)

Ada worked for the Red Cross during World War I, and devoted her spare time to the Boy Scout movement. An avid photographer, Ada spent years documenting her home and her family. Ada and her sister Leila were the last surviving members of the children of Charles and Caroline, and they sold Como House and all its contents to the National Trust of Victoria in 1959 – the first house the National Trust bought. They also left an extensive archive of diaries, letters, journals and photographs.

George Herbert (1861-1925)

Educated at Toorak College in Melbourne, and Western College in Brighton, England. At school in England he proved a champion athlete and won the South of England School’s Cup two years in a row. He was managing partner at Fulham Station. Married Amelia Fanny Tyler in 1892.

Harold Augustus (1862-1926)

Educated at Geelong Grammar, Toorak College, and Western College. He managed several pastoral properties in the family’s possession, and was also part of the horse racing world.

Ethel Maud (1865-1872)

Died during a diphtheria epidemic, aged seven.

Ernest Adolphus (1867-1898)

Laura Evelyn (1869-1956)

Frail and artistic, Laura remained behind at Como House when her sisters Ada, Constance and Leila were away from Melbourne for eleven years, unable to leave Europe because of the First World War. She lived the life of a recluse from the 1920s onwards.

Constance Caroline (1871-1969)

During the round of parties and celebrations to mark the Federation of Australia in 1901, Constance met Captain Arthur Fitzpatrick, aide-de-camp to the Governor of Victoria. They were married on May 9 1906, and their wedding was the social event of the season, with the reception held at Como House. (Constance’s bridal photo was used for Girls Names from the Top 100 of the 1900s). Constance and Arthur went to live in England; however the marriage did not turn out well, and Arthur abandoned his wife, taking all her money with him. Constance went back to Australia in 1910, and thereafter lived the life of a spinster.

Frederick Felix Henry (1874-1910)

Died in London.

Leila Christina (1875-1965)

In 1891, Leila attended finishing school in Paris, and during this year, her mother and older sisters stayed in London. In 1894, she made her debut during the Melbourne Cup season at the ballroom of Como House. When War War I broke out, Leila joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the Red Cross, and was sent to an Australian military hospital in France. She was joined by her older sister Constance, where they worked as untrained nurses and ambulance drivers, picking up the wounded and the dying from the battlefields.

(Top photo shows Constance, Leila, Ernest, Laura and Frederick on their European tour c. 1878; iimage from Culture Victoria. Bottom photo shows Como House as it is today; image from Melbourne Fresh Daily).

Saturday Celebrity Sibset: The Passing of a Legend – Jim Stynes

31 Saturday Mar 2012

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This is a sibset which has been in the news recently for sad reasons, because their father Jim Stynes passed from cancer on March 20, aged 45.

James or Jim was born in Dublin to Brian and Teresa, one of six siblings. His grandfather Joe was an All-Ireland Gaelic footballer with Dublin in the 1920s, and Jim followed in his footsteps, becoming a successful Gaelic footballer while still a teenager. His younger brothers Brian and David were also footballers.

Jim Stynes emigrated to Australia at the age of 18 to play Australian rules football. He played 264 games with the Melbourne Football Club, including a league record of 244 consecutive games, and was the only non Australian-born AFL player to win the prestigious Brownlow Medal. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1991.

When his football career ended, Jim chose to put his energy into charity, setting up a foundation to help young people, and authored self-help books for children. He sat on several government advisory boards to do with youth issues, and also became President of the Melbourne Football Club; his fundraising efforts brought the club out of debt.

He won the Australian Sports Medal, the Centenary Medal, and was named Victorian of the Year in 2003. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia, named Melburnian of the Year in 2010, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Australian Catholic University in recognition of his social work.

He was honoured with a state funeral on March 27; the service was shown on screen in Federation Square since there were thousands of fans who couldn’t fit into the church. Jim’s life was short, but he packed an enormous amount into it.

Jim’s wife was Samantha “Sam” Ludbey-Stynes, who was originally a schoolteacher. After Jim’s cancer diagnosis in 2009, the family went on a strict anti-cancer diet, and Sam is currently the Managing Director of Non-Fiction Foods, which produces Jimbo Super Muesli, to a recipe Jim created himself.

Jim and Sam have a daughter and a son:

Matisse (aged 10)

Tiernan (aged 7)

Matisse is still a fashionable girl’s name, and Tiernan is a Gaelic surname meaning “lord, master” – a nod to Jim’s Irish origins.

At his funeral, Jim’s family thanked Australia for giving Jim so many opportunities he wouldn’t have received in Ireland, but as often happens, Jim gave us much more in return.

Saturday Celebrity Sibset: Australian-European Influence – Richard Roxburgh and Silvia Colloca

24 Saturday Mar 2012

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Richard Roxburgh is considered one of Australia’s finest actors. He grew up in the country town of Albury in New South Wales as the youngest of six brothers and sisters, the children of John and Mary. He fell in love with acting at the age of 15, playing the lead role in Death of a Salesman to an enchantress named Meryl, but studied economics at university. Richard got as far as applying for an office job before he came to his senses and entered the National Institute of Dramatic Art.

He has won awards for his television roles, and been critically acclaimed for his stage work, particularly as Hamlet. Richard has appeared in several Hollywood blockbusters, where he often seems to be cast as a villain, such as a henchman in Mission Impossible II, and the Duke of Monroth in Moulin Rouge.

He is the only actor who has played, on screen, Sherlock Holmes (in The Hound of the Baskervilles), Holmes’ nemesis, Professor Moriarty (in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), and Count Dracula (in Van Helsing). Orson Welles also managed it, but on radio.

Richard says that he has been attracted to European people and culture since childhood, so it’s no surprise that he married the beautiful Italian actress Silvia Colloca, who played one of the brides of Dracula in Van Helsing. The couple were married in Tuscany in 2004.

Silvia is from Milan, and the youngest of three siblings; her sister is Alessandra, her brother is Giammarco, and they are the children of Loredana and Mario. She trained as a mezzo-soprano at the prestigious Music Academy of Milan, and sang in musical theatre and opera. Van Helsing was her first major movie role; since then she has done more movies, often ones where she again appears as a vampire with a Romanian accent. She has also appeared in Australian film and TV, including the hit drama series, Packed to the Rafters.

Richard and Silvia have two children:

Raphael Jack Domenico “Raffi” (born 2007)

Miro Gianni David (born 2010)

Richard and Silvia live in Sydney and London, consider Italy their home, and are bringing their sons up to be completely bilingual, and equally Italian and Australian. Fittingly, the names of their children are a mixture of names common in both countries.

Raphael (especially with the nickname Raffi) is hugely fashionable here, so they chose a name that doesn’t stand out. Jack is almost stereotypically Aussie, and may honour Richard’s father, John.

Miro has a Slavic name; interesting as they met on a film shot on location in the Czech Republic. However, Richard was drawn to Slavic immigrants as a schoolboy, and became conversant in Yugoslav. Miro is also a word from an Australian Aboriginal language, but they may not have known that. Miro sounds a little like both Richard’s mother Mary, and Silvia’s father, Mario. With the rise of Mira as a name in vogue, the masculine form Miro seems a perfect match with Raphael.

Thank you to Siobhan for suggesting the Roxburgh family as a Celebrity Sibset.

Saturday Sibset: The Family From the Emerald Isle

17 Saturday Mar 2012

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It’s Saint Patrick’s Day today, so of course this week’s sibset is from Ireland. The Hoban family moved to Australia in 2005 from the town of Wicklow, south of Dublin.

After selling their family business, Mr and Mrs Hoban wanted to show their four sons the world, so they went to Adelaide as temporary residents, where Mrs Hoban got a job as a nurse. However, life in Adelaide must have been good to them, because they decided to make it their permanent home.

They wanted to become citizens in 2007, but missed the cut-off by three days, after the law changed so that residents had to be living here for four years instead of two. Their fourth anniversary came up in October 2011, but they decided to delay just a bit further so that they could become citizens on Australia Day this year.

Mr Hoban says that leaving behind their friends, family and jobs was a “huge deal”, but now every time they leave Adelaide and come back, he is so happy he could “kiss the ground”. The youngest Hoban children have spent more than half their lives in Australia, and it means more to them than their country of birth.

Australia has a great fondness for Irish names, so we’ll have a look at the Hobans and see whether they have names already familiar here.

Kevin: Kevin is the father of the family, and as we well know, his name is considered a classic here, and still used fairly often. Luckily he didn’t migrate to Germany or one of the many other nations who don’t view Kevin kindly.

Tona: Tona is Kevin’s wife, and her name is usually taken to be a pet form of the name Antonia. However, there is a Scandinavian name Tona, meaning “fresh thunder”. Although Wicklow is said to have been settled by Vikings, the first one is probably more likely. It’s very similar to names such as Toni and Tonia.

Darragh (20): There are two possible sources for this name, pronounced DAH-rah, although in an Australian accent, I suspect it comes out as DARR-uh. One is that it’s a variant of the name Dara, which means “oak tree”. It is the same source as the name of the city of Derry or Londonderry in Northern Ireland. Oak trees were sacred in Celtic mythology, and there was a sixth century Saint MacDara (son of Dara), who was one of those reclusive island-dwelling hermit saints who flourished in Ireland. He has given his name to the tiny islet off the coast of Connemara on which he sequestered himself. Darragh can also be an Anglicised form of the name Dáire, meaning both “fruitful, fertile, rutting” and “tumult, rage, violence”. There are many kings and heroes of Irish legend with this name, and they may all go back ultimately to a god of the Otherworld. Despite its ancient origins, Darragh came into general use in Ireland fairly recently, so most of us wouldn’t have heard of it yet, although it is currently #16 in Ireland. However, it’s a wonderful name, extremely masculine, and one which I think Australians could easily embrace. It sounds comfortingly like that Aussie standard, Darren, and has also been Latinised as Darius.

Ryan (18): This name is very popular in both Ireland and Australia, although more popular in its country of origin, being #6 at present, while it’s #57 in South Australia.

Cian (14): This means “ancient” in Gaelic, and is pronounced KEE-an or KEEN. It’s another name from Irish legend, and is also recorded as the name of a Welsh poet. Cian is #14 in Ireland, and although it isn’t as popular here, it’s fairly well known and in use. There are also several variants and derivatives used, such as Kian, Keene, Keane, Keenan and so on.

Evin (12): This is the Anglicised form of the Gaelic name Éimhín, which may mean “swift”. There is a sixth century Saint Éimhín, who was from Munster, but a monk at an abbey in County Wexford. He is said to have written a biography of Saint Patrick, which makes it a great name for St Patrick’s Day. Evin is rare in both Ireland and Australia, although the name can also be Anglicised to its soundalike, Evan, and this name is #27 in Ireland and #95 in South Australia. Evin also has his dad’s name, minus the K – perhaps deliberate?

So out of six genuine Irish names, one is a classic, one is popular, one is in use, and the other three have a familiar sound to them and seem very usable.

Saturday Sibset: The Sibset That Tastes Like Mashed Potatoes and Crackers

10 Saturday Mar 2012

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This was a story I read in a magazine, and found it so interesting from a naming perspective that I wanted to share it.

Anne Williams lives in Perth, Western Australia, and she has synaesthesia. I think many of you will know what that is – it’s a neurological condition where stimulation of one sense leads to the experience of another sense being stimulated.

I’m betting several of you reading this will experience some words and names as having a specific colour; this is called grapheme-colour synaesthesia. (I have a theory that many “name-fussy” people have some type of synaesthesiac relationship to words and names; perhaps even one so subtle it has not yet been recognised).

Anne has the much rarer lexical-gustatory synaesthesia, where hearing a certain word will evoke a specific flavour and texture at the back of her mouth.

For many years, it was a mystery to her why she spent her childhood craving salt and vinegar chips (crisps), and ice cream waffle cones. Later she realised it was because her dad’s name, Dave, evoked the taste of the chips, and her mum’s name, Kay, gave her the taste of ice cream cones. Her best friend Olivia used the words like and England a lot, which tasted of chocolate YoGo (a pre-packaged yogurt dessert) and oatmeal biscuits (cookies) respectively.

When it came to choosing a husband, it was a bit tricky, because as well as picking someone appealing and compatible, she also needed him to have a name that had a nice flavour, as she was going to be hearing it all the time. Luckily, the man of her dreams was named Steve, which has the same familiar salt and vinegar chips taste as her dad’s name, Dave. (They do actually sound a little similar).

Steve was happy to let Anne pick their children’s names, as she was going to have to taste them on a daily basis. For her daughter, now aged three, she chose the name Tobi, which tastes of mashed potato and gravy. And her son Saxon, now around 20 months, was given a name which evokes the flavour of Dixie Drumstick crackers. When her children call her “Mummy”, she instantly tastes freshly-made pancakes.

Anne is a music teacher, and sometimes it’s challenging when she dislikes her students’ name-tastes. Some of the yukkier ones for her include Ryan (crayons), Ellen and Helen (celery), Leanne (spearmint leaves), Ben (rubber bands or squid) and Brad (soggy Weet-Bix, a breakfast cereal).

Some other words and names as tasted by Anne:

Anne – hard boiled egg-yolk

synaesthesia – Kraft cheese spread

baby – pikelets (little pancakes)

March – sticks

Wednesday – melted margarine on toast

The Wiggles – red jelly snakes

family – soggy All-Bran

Sydney – tomato soup

Australia – no taste

New Zealand – cold Cheddar cheese

(Story from Woman’s Day, December 5 2011)

Saturday Celebrity Sibset: The Rockers – Brody Dalle and Josh Homme

03 Saturday Mar 2012

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This is yet another celebrity baby from 2011 I didn’t see, so made it a Celebrity Sibset instead.

Brody Dalle is a punk rocker who is originally from Melbourne. Her parents named her Bree, and she picked the unisex name Brody for herself as a teenager. Apparently as a child she was called Breezy Wheezy by her family because she had asthma, which rather ruined the name Bree for her.

She has used the middle names Leslie and Joanna Alice; I’m not sure if either of them are her original middle name/s. She has managed an impressive seven surnames during her life, and it’s unclear what the original surname was. She went by Pucilowski, Mayer and Robinson just as a teenager. Eventually she chose Dalle in reference to Béatrice Dalle, her favourite actress. Béatrice Dalle is best known for the film Betty Blue.

Brody began her career in punk at the age of thirteen, and at sixteen she met Tim Armstrong, the vocalist for punk rock band Rancid at a music festival. They began a relationship, although Tim was more than thirteen years her senior. They married when Brody turned 18, and she moved to Los Angeles with her husband, where she founded the band The Distillers. Brody and Tim divorced six years later.

In 2007, Brody married Josh Homme, lead singer from rock band Queens of the Stone Age, and founded the indie rock band Spinnerette; the couple live in Palm Springs, California.

Josh also has an interesting name – he was named after the town he was born in, Joshua Tree, in the Mojave Desert of California. He pronounces his Norwegian surname to rhyme with Tommy, although the Norwegian pronunciation is to rhyme with puma. He has adopted the pseudonym Carlo von Sexron for some of his work, and his nicknames include King Baby Duck, J. Ho, Joe’s Hoe, and the Ginger Elvis.

Brody and Josh have two children, and as they have enjoyed re-naming themselves so much, it’s interesting to see what names they would choose for their children.

Camille Harley Joan was born in 2006. Camille is named after Josh’s grandmother, and Josh collects motorcycles, which probably explains Harley. Although Joan looks like Brody’s middle name Joanna, it also reminds me of rock queen Joan Jett, who must have had some influence on Dalle herself. However, for all I know it’s another family name.

Orrin Ryder was born in 2011. Rumour has it that just as Camille is named after Josh’s grandma, Orrin is named for his grandfather, but I can’t confirm that. Josh has both his grandmother’s and grandfather’s nicknames tattooed on his knuckles – CAM and CAP – so it does have some symmetry. It’s hard not to connect the name Ryder with Josh’s motorcycle hobby as well.

Being called after a family member seems cosy and non-punk, although being named after Dad’s tattoos and motorbikes gives them a bit more of a rock edge.

I wonder if Camille and Orrin will follow the family tradition of giving new names to themselves, and what names they will choose?