Choosing a name for your child is a big deal. The name you pick can shape how people see them and how they are treated for their whole life. While many parents go for classic names like Elizabeth or William, some are picking more modern or unusual names. Recently, a social media influencer named her daughter after a Disney character, and people online have mixed feelings about it.
Indy Clinton is an Australian fitness and lifestyle blogger with over 600,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok. She lives in Sydney with her husband, son, and daughter. When her daughter was born last year, her fans were excited. However, some people questioned her choice of name when she revealed that she named her daughter after a Disney character. In the end, she chose the name Bambi, even though she originally considered Paloma, which means Dove in Spanish.
Indy is no stranger to unique names—her son’s name is Navy. But the name she chose for her daughter, Bambi, surprised many fans. Indy shared, “We were set on calling her Paloma at first. That was her name, and nothing was going to change that. But one night, while reading a book to Navy, I suddenly thought, ‘What about Bambi?’ And from then on, it stuck.”
The story of Bambi is both heartbreaking and uplifting. It’s about a baby deer whose mother dies, and after a few tough moments, the story turns into one of friendship and adventure.
Unsurprisingly, fans were divided over the name choice. Some questioned Indy’s decision, with one person commenting, “Imagine being an adult named this. These baby names are mad these days.” Another person wrote, “Are you naming humans that will be adults one day? Or kittens?”
A third person thoughtfully pointed out, “Kids can be cruel. A unique name isn’t something to shy away from, but a name tied to a character might not be ideal for your child.” They added that being named after a Disney character in middle school could be challenging.
Alternatively, some fans defended Indy’s choice. “People need to shut it. She can name her baby anything she wants. I think it’s adorable,” wrote one supportive follower. Another added, “Congratulations! It’s a wonderful name for your baby.”
“So happy, love the name,” a third person commented.
Indy explained that she’s always loved the story of Bambi, even as a little girl. Seeing her daughter’s “sweet, curious nature, and big brown eyes” made the name feel like a perfect fit. She also noted that while opinions are split, “unique names are the new trend.”
Interestingly, Bambi is derived from the Italian word “bambino,” which means child or baby. In the Disney film and books, Bambi is a male character. This creative choice might make Bambi a popular gender-neutral name in the future. For example, reality star Molly-Mae Hague also named her daughter Bambi, though it’s unclear if she chose the name because of the Disney character or simply because she liked it.
Interestingly, Bambi isn’t the only Disney character whose name has become popular for real-life people. Several Disney characters have everyday names. For instance, the dog from *The Little Mermaid* is named Max. Additionally, many characters from *Frozen* have names that are common in Scandinavia. Elsa, for example, is often short for Elizabeth, and Olaf means “heir” in Scandinavian languages.
*The Princess and the Frog* is a heartwarming story about a Black woman named Tiana who works hard to achieve her dream of opening a restaurant, despite the challenges she faced growing up. Interestingly, according to Babynames.com, the name Tiana has Slavic origins. Regardless of its roots, Tiana has been a popular name in the U.S., consistently appearing in the top 1,000 baby names since the 1970s.
Aurora is a Latin name that originally referred to the “Roman Goddess of the Dawn.” It’s a beautiful name that symbolizes powerful feminine energy and the splendor of the night sky.
Merida is another Disney character with a name that works well in real life. The character herself is Scottish, but the name Merida is thought to have Celtic or Spanish origins.
Chip is the name of a charming and lovable chipmunk, as well as a little boy turned into a teacup in *Beauty and the Beast*. It’s an English name derived from Charles but isn’t as popular today. Despite this, Bambi, which is becoming a popular choice for baby girls, is seen as a gender-neutral name.
Indy, known for being a super mom, announced her third pregnancy just months after Bambi was born. As a social media influencer, she skillfully balances her roles as a mother, wife, and a role model for women everywhere.
Nicholas Cage’s twin grandchildren haven’t met their famous grandad
This actor, who belongs to one of Hollywood’s most famous dynasties, is a National Treasure but in his personal life, he’s trapped in a “quiet, horrible nightmare.”
The Family Man actor, who once bought a seat on a plane for his child’s imaginary friend, is now living in a “hostile environment” created by his son’s ex-wife, who’s preventing him from meeting his four-year-old twin granddaughters.
Keep reading to learn the identity of the star whose name change was inspired by a superhero!
When this actor was only 15, he was seated in a car with his uncle, one of Hollywood’s leading filmmakers, and begged him for a chance to appear in one of his award-winning films.
“Give me a screen test, I’ll show you acting. There was just silence in the car,” said the star, who’s proudly bizarre both on and off screen.
As a 17-year-old, the actor paved his own path to stardom and earned a minor role in the 1982 hit, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a coming-of age cult favorite.
“I was the brunt of jokes because my name was still Coppola,” says Nicholas Cage, who was born in 1962 as Nicholas Kim Coppola.
“People would not stop saying things like, ‘I love the smell of Nicolas in the morning,’ because of Apocalypse Now…and it made it hard to work and I said, ‘I don’t need this,’ and changed it to Cage,” the star explains of dropping the surname that connected him to his famous relative, Francis Ford Coppola.
Next, explaining why he chose Cage, he says, “It’s a combination of Luke Cage from Marvel comics, who was a character I liked, also named Power Man, and John Cage, the avant-garde composer. Speaks volumes about everything I’ve been up to ever since.”
His first starring role with Cage as his last name came in 1983’s Valley Girl and the anonymity he said made him feel as if he “had this weight come off my body.”
“Wow, I really can do this. And I felt liberated by that experience,” he tells Hollywood Reporter. “And you can see it in Valley Girl that I’m free. Whereas in Fast Times, or even Rumble Fish, I’m somewhat stuck,” he says, referring to his appearance in 1983’s Rumble Fish, a film directed by his uncle.
Over the next several years, Cage worked in back-to-back films, earning the reputation as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actors.
In 1988, he earned Golden Globe nominations for Moonstruck with Cher and Honeymoon in Vegas with Sarah Jessica Parker.
It was also the same year he met actor Christina Fulton, who in December 1990 gave birth to his first son, Weston Coppola Cage, an actor who appeared as the younger version of his dad in the 2014 film Rage.
Cage, who earned an Oscar for his 1995 role in Leaving Las Vegas, also shares a son Kal-El (Superman’s birth name) born in 2005 with his third wife Alice Kim, and daughter August Francesca (born 2022) with his fifth wife, Riko Shibata.
Cage was also famously married to Patricia Arquette (1995 to 2001) and Lisa Marie Presley (2002), whom he filed for divorce only months later.
Speaking with People, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent actor says that family comes “first and foremost.”
“There’s no version of Nick Cage in reality that doesn’t want to spend time with his children…There’s no version of Nick Cage that didn’t put family first over career,” says the star of Raising Arizona.
He adds, “I turned down Lord of the Rings and I turned down Matrix because I didn’t want to go to New Zealand for three years or Australia for three years because I needed to be home with my son Weston, that’s a fact.”
Offering evidence to that, actor Minnie Driver once said: “Was once on a plane with [Nicholas Cage] and his son and a seat had also been purchased for his son’s imaginary friend.”
Weston Coppola Cage
To this day the Adaptation star has a very tight bond with his children, and two of his grandchildren, Lucian (born 2014) and Sorin (2016), who Weston shares with his second wife.
“He can do things I dream about doing…compose music, sing, act, sculpt and cook and now he is a loving father,” Cage said of Weston, the former lead of two heavy metal bands. “To see my son with my grandson is as close to a sense of blissful completion I ever had.”
The D-Day star, 33, has been married three times and also shares twin daughters, Cyress and Venice, who were born in 2020 with his third ex-wife, Hila Arounian.
But the kids don’t know any members of their famous Hollywood family.
Following an ugly divorce in 2021, TMZ reports that Hila was granted “sole legal and physical custody of their twin daughters…with Weston getting no visitation rights.”
Explaining the distressing details, Weston’s mom Christina tells the U.S. Sun, that Hila has created a “hostile environment,” which includes “a request for a restraining order against her seeing the kids that was dismissed” in 2023.
“As a classy, respectful Hollywood family we are appalled and shocked at how Hila could do something like this. It is devastating not to see these kids. Nicolas and I haven’t been able to meet our two beautiful little granddaughters at all since they were born,” Christina says of the “smear campaign” Hila launched against her family. “We’re in a quiet, horrible nightmare. It’s insane, painful, hurtful, devastating. I have a beautiful relationship with my two little boy grandchildren and my son has a beautiful relationship with his boys.”
Christina adds, “Not meeting the girls is painful, hurtful, and shocking.”
Defending herself, Hila shares a note on Facebook, explaining that her ex cheated several times and was “weaponizing influence, wealth,” turning “the legal system against” her.
She also calls Christina a “sabotaging mother” and referring to Weston’s mental illness along with addictions, she says that Cage is an “enabling father” who “consistently hindered his progress.”
Hila does not mention anything about denying the family visitation with the twins, only that Weston’s “behavior became a physical threat to our daughters and me, as well as our emotional well-being.”
Christina reveals the Cage/Coppola family isn’t backing down: “In these trying times, our family’s resilience is tested. But we remain committed to overcoming these challenges and restoring our family’s harmony.”
What do you think about this heartbreaking story? Please share your thoughts with us and then share this story so we can hear what others have to say!
Leave a Reply