Thomas and Samuel Black - perfectly reasonable names! Yay for Jack Black. And I bet he's a really fun dad.

Thomas Black is a good name. So is Samuel. We could use more celebrities like Jack Black and less like...I don't know...Diana Ross. I'm sorry, but I just can't get over Chudney.

Seriously. Or Jermajesty. The hell?

True, "chudney" makes me think of 80s horror movies and Indian condiments, but I like when parents try to get creative. Tom and Sam Black are commonplace AND monosyllabic. Not there's anything wrong with that, especially when names have special meanings or are being passed down (though, not the biggest fan of George Foreman's kids' names), but they're just...boring names.

Then again, I am a fan of Moxie CrimeFighter and Poet Sienna Rose.

ETA: "Familiar" is more what I was going for over "boring."

I like to think that a person's uniqueness and creativity comes from their personality and character, and not from some kooky name. Give me a Thomas or a Samuel over a Smurfette (yes, a student at my school is actually named this) or a Pilot Inspektor any day.

That's so hilarious, it's cruel. Sometimes I think every country should be like Finland, where the government has to approve a child's name.

Don't disagree in the least. If you're responding to me, I wasn't commenting on the children's potential to be creative and talented based on their names. I just don't think a traditional, common name is necessarily "better" than one where the parents decided to get creative. Nor do I think unique (and perhaps pretentious) names destine a child for greatness. And I certainly wouldn't judge a someone based on their name.

But anyway, I'm a fan of names that have cultural significance, stories, and/or thought behind them, which also happens to be why I'm a fan of this thread.

Well, Thomas is after himself, but I don't know if Samuel has any cultural significance. I like it though, I think its a nice name.

His middle name is Wyatt, which is a pretty cool name in itself. They should totally pull a Jennifer Love Hewitt.

I'm one of those people who tend to like names that are in the middle of the road: not too plain, but not too kre8tyve. For example, I like the name Shiloh; its a real name, its original, but its not so kooky that I wouldn't take her seriously when she grows up. Ditto Harley Quinn Smith; different, but not so outlandish I wouldn't even consider it a name in the first place.

Fifi Trixiebelle, Chudney, Pilot Inspektor, and Audio Science, on the other hand? Pffft. Give your kid a real name, not a dog's name.

There's a kid at my daycare whose name is pronounced Za-RYE-as, but it's spelled....Zerious. The first time I saw it written out, I was like "....zeriously?"

But their child's name is zpecial!

Jessica Alba's daughter is named Honor Marie Warren. Eh.

Yeah, I'm really hating that name. It's stupid but without even the fun factor of something like Apple or Pilot. Stodgy AND dumb. Nicely done, Alba.

I kinda like Honor Marie. The same way I liked Harlow Winter Kate. Simple, traditional names mixed with common nouns which you wouldn't normally consider as first names, but nevertheless have some sort of nice, poetical quality to them.
(Ok, shoot me if I'm being too lame.)