Over the weekend, Marijuana Pepsi became a viral sensation. What sounds like the name of a new carbonated drink is actually the legal name of a woman from Wisconsin. Her story could be called a courageous one, as Marijuana refused to change her name growing up and rejected nicknames like Mary in favor of her full name. After decades of defending herself against name-shamers, she did exactly what we’d hope a woman named Marijuana Pepsi Vandyck would do: she earned a PhD by studying names. A woman after our own hearts! Her dissertation, Black Names in White Classrooms: Teacher Behaviors and Student Perceptions, is certainly one we’ll read. Congrats, Dr. Marijuana Pepsi!
In celebrity news, Kobe and Vanessa Bryant just welcomed their fourth daughter and revealed her name over the weekend: Capri Kobe! And she already has an adorable nickname: Koko. All the Bryant girls have Italian-inspired names: Natalia, Gianna, and Bianka. Of the four, though, Capri is the only daughter named after a place in Italy and the only one given her NBA dad’s name. What do you think of the name Capri? And any chance Kobe will hop into the top 1000 female names now?
With Joe Sestak announcing his candidacy on Saturday, there are now 24 Democrats vying for the party nomination for the next presidential election, giving us a wealth of names: Joe (x2), Elizabeth, Kirsten, Kamala, Cory, Amy, Bernie, Beto (or Robert), Pete, Bill, Marianne, Steve, Julian, John (x2), Tulsi, Mike, Jay, Wayne, Seth, Tim, Eric, and Andrew. Whew! Even with this unprecedented number of candidates, we’re struck by the variety of names in this group. It is without a doubt the most diverse we’ve ever seen. This is in large part because there are more and more women now running for the highest office in America. Surprisingly, there’s not a single James on this list (it’s the most common first name for past American presidents), though there are two Johns (the second most common first name for past American presidents).
On the other political side, there are two Republicans known to be running so far: Donald Trump, running for reelection, and Bill Weld (former governor of Massachusetts).
Romance novelist superstar Judith Krantz passed away over the weekend at the age of 91. (Side note: her middle name, Bluma-Gittel, means “lovely flower” in Yiddish!) She wasn’t nearly as prolific as some other famous romance novelists like Barbara Cartland or Danielle Steele, but her books were a huge hit with readers and viewers, as many of her novels were adapted to the small screen, too. While we’re not romance novel readers ourselves, we do get a kick out of romance novel names for how fun they are. In Krantz’s most famous novel, Scruples, you’ve got a Wilhelmina, Billy (a woman), Ellis, Valentine, Spider (!), Dolly, and Vito. If you read romance novels, please share some of your favorite over-the-top character names with us!