Real Housewives' Baby Names: Atlanta

Click here for the New York City post

This was originally posted in May 2011 and a photo was updated in October.

I already have low expectations for this one... In honor of Nene's voluntary exit from Celebrity Apprentice this week, I thought I'd review the Real Housewives of Atlanta's baby names. I haven't watched every season, so I'm only going to include cast members I am familiar with.

Photo here

Nene Leakes

Sons: Brentt and Brice

I'm really hoping that the entire internet is wrong and that extra T on Brent is a typo. Of course, Nene's soon to be ex-husband is named Greg-with-an-extra-G [he's not her children's father] so maybe it's just something she goes for. Also, what's with Brice? It's like the current trend of substituting a Y for any other vowel except with an I.

I'm also not a fan at all of matchy sibling names and I don't like when siblings have the same first initial. Grade: D- [would have been an F but Nene's hilarious].

Photo here

Kim Zolciak

Daughters: Brielle and Ariana

She's probably going to have her third child any day now [I've lost track but it seems like she's been pregnant forever] so check back for the birth announcement. As for her older daughters' names, they're not as bad as I'd expect from Kim. Ariana is a variant spelling of Arianna, and despite its popularity, is a decent name.

According to Behind the Name, Brielle is a short form of Gabrielle. I'm not a big fan of the overused -elle names and Brielle just sounds trendy to me. Overall, I'd give Kim's choices a C-.

Shereé and her daughter Tierra

Shereé Whitfield

Daughters: Tierra and Kaleigh

Son: Kairo

Yes, that says Kairo, which appears to be a misspelled version of Cairo- Shereé and Mariah Carey definitely need to hang out. Moving on: Kaleigh is as trendy as it gets and I'm not a fan. I wonder how often she has to correct people who spell it Kaylee/ one of the other many spellings. As for Tierra, I'm guessing Sheree was going more for a kewl version of the word tiara than she was thinking about the Spanish word. To be fair, Shereé did have Tierra when she was very young, but that's not an excuse for a bad name. Grade: F.

Kandi and her daughter Riley

 Kandi Burress

Daughter: Riley

I like Kandi even though I don't really understand why she's on the show. She doesn't seem to fit very well with the rest of the cast. Anyway, I'm not a big fan of the whole Riley trend but at least she didn't spell it Ryleigh or something. 

Something I just found out is that after Kandi and her fiancé AJ [who was later murdered] took a break from their relationship, she took custody of two of his daughters. I couldn't find out what their names were [one might be Ashley, after AJ] but I think that is a wonderful thing that a lot of people wouldn't do. 

I give Kandi a B- because I would typically expect a youneekly-spelled baby name from someone named Candy-with-an-I. Riley is a pleasant surprise, even if it's a boy name.

Phaedra Parks and Apollo Nida

Son: Ayden Adonis

Oh, Lord, I forgot about Phaedra. If you don't watch, Phaedra told everyone her doctor was going to deliver her baby at 7 months' gestation because he was fully developed [she lied about her due date so people wouldn't know she was pregnant when they got married]. Phaedra is an attorney/ Southern belle who takes herself way too seriously. That's why I'm not surprised at all that her son's name is Ayden [a trendy misspelling of the Irish name Aidan] Adonis [please]. She did breastfeed her son on the show, though, so maybe that means she's not as nuts as she seems. Grade: F.

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Cynthia Bailey

Daughter: Noelle

Cynthia is one of my favorite non-trainwreck housewives. She also doesn't really mesh with the rest of the cast but she's very pretty and seems like a nice, real person. As for her daughter's name, it's just ok. I'm not a fan of it because I love the masculine name Noel and I think the popularity of Noelle makes parents shy away from Noel for a boy. I give her a C- for effort and for at least spelling the name correctly.

Did you know that Atlanta is the highest-rated series of all the Housewives franchises and the highest-rated reality show on Bravo? I guess I shouldn't be surprised but out of the people I know, New Jersey and Orange County seem to be the most popular.

Rumored Celebrity Pregnancies: Jessica Simpson

Over the past month or so, tabloids have been going crazy over Jessica Simpson's apparent pregnancy. It's not the first time but it might be for real. She and her fiancé Eric Johnson have made no statements either confirming or denying a pregnancy, which makes it seem all the more likely.
Then there are pictures like this:

Source: people.com

Source: people.com

Source: people.com

 There are rumors that they will be married in Hawaii on November 11th [11/11/2011] and that she is having a girl. I also read that she is considering the names Morgan and Karen, which I seriously hope is untrue. No offense if you're considering those names but there are so many great girl names and I would never use an -n ending with Johnson.

In any case, I haven't been this excited about a new celebrity baby since Angelina's twins were born so I hope it's true!

Edited 10/25/11 to add photos.

Nontoxic Gear: Green Sprouts Bath Puppet

I'm not sure if this really qualifies as gear, but I searched for months and finally found an organic cotton bathtime puppet washcloth. I actually found it when we were in Richmond, VA recently for a wedding and I came across the most amazing baby store I've ever been to. Ever. It's called Franklin Goose and they sold almost every single item/ brand I have to scour the internet to find because nowhere in Oklahoma sells it.

Anyway, they do online and phone orders as well so if you can't track down that Sustainablebabyish wool soaker or something else equally elusive, I'd try them.

Hippo Bath Puppet

 Ok, bath puppets. We got the blue hippo and now that Bay has made friends with him, I will probably get more. Amazon sells them for $8 each with free 2-day shipping if you are a Prime member or if you sign up for Amazon Moms- do it, it's free and totally worth it [you can also sign up as a dad, grandparent, aunt, or uncle].

Pig Bath Puppet

They also have a pig and alligator that should be fun as long as your child doesn't have a phobia related to either animal [Bay has only ever exhibited fear when I've shown her toy alligators, it must be the teeth].

Alligator Bath Puppet

Happy shopping!