Just plain Bill is banned in Hollywood name game

LOS ANGELES, June 2 (Reuters) If you have ever wondered what's in a name, consider: Brooklyn, Moxie Crimefighter, Bluebell Madonna, Suri, Phinneaus, Apple and, debuting just last week, Shiloh.

All these are names that celebrities have bestowed upon their newborns in their quest for the unusual, outlandish or off-the-wall.

Consider plain Bill boring and banned.

The experts say it is only a matter of time before the latest trendy new names spread to the general public. For example, ordinary people in the Bronx could start naming their children Brooklyn -- a name British soccer star David Beckham and his ex-Spice Girl wife Victoria chose for their son.

Although some name experts think the public might embrace Brooklyn as a first name, they might not jump at the name another former Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell, gave her daughter --Bluebell Madonna.

Shortly before the birth, Halliwell told a British magazine she saw bluebells everywhere and took that as a sign. As for the name Madonna, she explained it this way: ''No one else has the name except the Virgin and the singer, who I adore.'' It might take a few years to see if the name Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt gave their new daughter -- Shiloh -- when she was born on Saturday catches on with the general public.

A GIRL CALLED MESSIAH Paul JJ Payack, the head of Global Language Monitor, which monitors word and name usage, says Shiloh is unusual in several ways: it is the site of one of the bloodiest battles in the Civil War, a male name and means Messiah.

''This is, indeed, a very unusual trend, where the baby's name is seen as just another Hollywood adornment,'' Payack said.

''Having children has become a fad, and as will any fad emanating from Hollywood, self-augmentation, adornment and going to the extreme are going to be present,'' he said.

MORE REUTERS SI RN0955