Gossip

In defense of weird baby names What's so wrong with Suri? I realize this week's hot topic is wacky celebrity baby names, but I have to say I the Cruisechild's unusual moniker. Whether it means princess or Krishna or sad tomato in another language, it's still sounds sweet to me.

(And, at only four letters, it will save valuable pencil lead when she gets older.) Gwyneth Paltrow now has an Apple (seen here) and a Moses. The same goes for Grier, ' new daughter.

While I haven't heard the name before, I think it sounds strong, like, say, Stockard or Fairuza. Then again, I have girlfriends named Knight and Maarika, so you may not want to take it from me. Some publications have called odd baby names a celebrity trend, but I see it happening beyond Hollywood: My cousin named her kid River.

Another friend of mine has a son named Trenton. Heck, my brother has a fairly strange name, and even my own name wasn't very common when I was born. Why did my parents do it?

It wasn't for attention, which is how some critics will probably explain Suri. It was because my mother and father were teachers -- and they wanted to assure themselves that they'd never teach anyone who shared their children's names. If and when I ever procreate, I'll probably follow suit, if only to prevent my kid from being called Steve M.

or Lisa No. 2 in gym class one day. We can mock all we want -- heaven knows there's enough material out there -- but I say dubbing his daughter Suri doesn't fall on his list of mistakes.

Besides, it could've been much worse: At least we're not welcoming the arrival of little Thomasina.