And who doesn't love to talk about names?

Some naming items I feel the need to discuss:

First of all, I am not a celebrity wannabe. It is purely by coincidence that my two oldest children are named Connor and Isabel, and that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman have two children named Isabella and Connor.

And no, I did not name my third child Lucas Owen because of the actors Luke and Owen Wilson, although my brothers think it is sometimes funny to call Lucas "Wilson Brothers."

And just the other day I was reading People.com and came across a picture of a model named Isabel Lucas. What the???

Second, I love my children's names - Connor Patrick, Isabel Charlotte and Lucas Owen - but have come to understand two things. 1. Some of you remember that Connor was almost named Reilly, but due to the increasingly popular usage of that name for the female gender, I had to REALLY work to convince Brian it just wouldn't be a good idea to go with it for a boy. And oh, my goodness, has that come to fruition! There are more girl Rileys (with a variety of spellings) in our ward and elsewhere that a boy Riley hardly stands a chance. It's like a Riley inundation! Crazy. Glad we went with Connor.

2. Isabel is popular (the name, that is). Really popular. And it's fine, really. Brian loved that name from the time we were first married, and when its star was quickly rising as we anticipated naming our baby girl, we decided to go with it anyways. At the time I didn't know another Isabel except for one who is 10 years older than ours. And I thought spelling it Isabel was a bit more original, but there are 3 Isabels in our new ward - all spelled the same as ours! Oh well, still love her name.

Third, I read a crazy article on a local news site recently about a judge in New Zealand who made a 9-year-old girl a ward of the court so that her name could be changed from - are you ready for this? - "Talulah Does the Hula from Hawaii." No kidding, absolutely for reals. Some idiot(s) chose to name their beloved child Talulah Does the Hula from Hawaii. The girl was so embarrassed by her name she only went by "K." Can you even believe it? The judge wouldn't reveal her new name, but chances are it's a gigantic improvement.

The article then went on to list a few additional names that had been blocked from being used, including: "Fish and Chips," "Yeah Detroit," "Keenan Got Lucy," and "Sex Fruit." Oh, and wanna hear some names that were allowed? Try "Number 16 Bus Shelter," and "Violence." And people wonder what is wrong with our world.

So I want to know, what crazy names have you heard? I'll share one. When I was volunteering at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis a number of years ago, on one shift I was caring for an infant with fetal alcohol syndrome who had been named Genuine - after the Miller Genuine Draft his mother drank to induce labor.