Jools and Jamie Oliver with Poppy Honey, Daisy Boo, Petal Blossom and Buddy Bear
The children of Jamie Oliver and his wife Jools have names you’re not likely to forget:
Poppy Honey
Daisy Boo
Petal Blossom Rainbow
Buddy Bear.
This week, Jools urged parents to be similarly creative when naming their own children.
In an interview in a UK parenting mag called Gurgle, she said:
‘They all have more than one name because I couldn’t decide.‘I’m not sure where Petal Rainbow came from – apparently it’s a My Little Pony! I wanted to call her Rainbow but Jamie told me to calm down.‘And I hate people’s opinions on names. Whatever you call your baby is your decision.’‘With Buddy it was quite fun choosing a boy’s name, as I hadn’t done it before.Asked if she would like more children she replied: ‘I really would, but I just don’t know. I’m so busy with four!’
Jools documents her life and her family beautifully on Instagram. Take a look.
Haha the whole family in Jools PJ's ...
What are your kids names? What are the most unusual kids’ names you’ve heard?
Comments
248 Comments so far
My daughters name is going to be Adelaide and nearly everyone comments on how unusual it is! Yes it’s an old name thats not used a lot these days but I never thought it was “unusual”. Some people react like Ive said coca cola or something.
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Hi love Jamie and Jools….but please take a minute to realize how ridiculed your kids are going to be when they go to school, it certainly proves that money and fame doesn’t buy common-sense!
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I love her pictures. Beautiful and real moments every parent can connect with
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Gosh MM, take out the singular quotation marks. Jools Oliver never actually said this. Rather libelous if you are intentionally misquoting. I am disappointed with the site for this, and so are other readers, based on comments. Alter the heading and all respect to you. I’m sure we’ll still get the name debate. Although, is this article really new or ‘news’?
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Gosh I love the Olivers! Gorgeous kids, gorgeous names.
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I knew a Marie who preferred to be called ‘Marr-ee’
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My daughter’s name is Niamh (pronounced Neve). It’s the Irish spelling and I love the way it looks and how it sounds with our surname. It suits her perfectly too. And to be honest, neither of us care about the negative opinions of others as she’s OUR daughter
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I’ve always loved Niamh. I love all the Celtic names like that actually – Saoirse, Roisin
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Nowhere in the article does Jools urge parents to be more creative with naming their children. Having said that I think it’s very brave giving your children creative names as you will generally cop a bit of flack for it.
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Not nearly as much trouble as the kid will endure. I never ever have the option of normality and have to have the discussion with every new person I meet. It gets boring. At least my name (Doone) has transitioned to adulthood. I think parents (like Jools) who give their kids babyish names are showing their own egoism – they cannot see their children as anything other than an adjunct to themselves and certainly not as independent adults. When I named my children I picked names that didn’t look silly over the title CEO and didn’t sound pretentious shouted across a building site or restaurant.Hopefully they will be adults for 4 times as long as they are children and their names need not to pigeonhole them.
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Trust me, it’s a 100 times better to have an individual name than be one of 10 Georgia’s in a year of 200 girls!
If you bring your kids up with the right values and attitudes they will love their name.
What better way to be creative than with something we use everyday!
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i guess I’d better stop commenting, bc my views keep getting taken off.
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I really don’t see the big fuss, they will be known to their contemporaries as Poppy, Daisy, Petal and Buddy, I hardly think they’ll get teased for that. I have a neice called “Lua”, which is different but I love it!!! My son is called “Finlay” which is unusual too but I love that name and so does he!!
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I think Buddy for a boys name is fine. Buddy Bear, not so much..
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I think buddy is a dogs names. Or maybe a nickname. But I can’t Used to it being a persons name.
Petal seems more like a nickname too. Along the lines of possum or pumpkin or honey.
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Am I missing something? Did Jools Oliver actually say “parents should be more creative / imaginative with kids’ names”? Or did she just explain her won kids’ names and her feelings about names? I can’t see that she actually said that anywhere?
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The article titles on this blog are often deliberately controversial (& often not representative of the content) in an attempt to rile people into commenting. Ironic considering comments that are even remotely critical are usually censored.
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What a beautiful family!
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i like their names and i think it suits them a lot.
i come from a different culture and speak a different language, when naming my boys i just wanted names that woud be pronouced the same everywhere in the world pretty much, we have achieved that, they are unusual names but pretty easy to spell and pronounce and we always get compliments from others when they hear the boys names. my boys also love their names. i think the biggest problem is when the name given to a child doesn’t tie well with their surname (eg. Richard Large), that’s when parents are guilty inho .
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Even so-called normal names can have connotations attached to them that you may not have realised at first. I called my son Nicholas. Within a few weeks a woman said to me ” oh, that’s a naughty boy name”. Then I noticed how many times you would hear Mums calling out to other naughty Nics at the shops. Turns out that woman was right. He is a naughty boy. Maybe I should have called him Harry, lol.
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Oh, I don’t know I have taught some lovely Nicolas’s
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That’s good to hear!
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That comment from the lady who said it was a naughty boy name is a bit negative and unsupportive to a new mum. She should have kept that to herself unless you asked.
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Hmm, there has been a pretty naughty “Harry” recently too!
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I’m thinking that Jools Oliver has become known via her a very famous and creative husband. (I do like her.) She can call herself any way she likes because it does not matter, she only represents herself and family, not a profession or employer, and she does not have to inspire confidence or trust.
But I bet her parents did not name her Jools, I bet she’s a Julie/ Julia/ Julianne, Juliet. And she can change back whenever she likes, though, as explained above, her lifestyle means she does not have to.
What if Buddy Bear decides to do a PhD? Or become a medical doctor, politician or lawyer? He’ll probably change it. I reckon the name she has given her kids will make it harder for them to picture anything but infantile career paths.
To me, there is a WORLD of difference between bestowing a cute nickname on yourself compared to imposing one a kid. I mean, would you agree to have brain surgery or removal of an impacted wisdom tooth by Dr Buddy Bear Oliver?
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I just Googled it and she was born Juliette Norton apparently!
-Megan, MM Moderater/Intern
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I think it would be Dr Buddy Oliver or Dr Bud Oliver – that would be on the business cards he would simply be Dr Oliver.
As an aside, the girls would be:
Dr Petal Oliver
Dr Poppy Oliver
Dr Daisy Oliver.
Poppy, Daisy and Bud are not uncommon names.
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My name is Rhonda. Fairly standard, the odd misspelling but nothing too hard to deal with. That’s was until the AAMI Insurance ad with Rhonda as the star. Now I keep getting ” eyes on the road Rhonda” , or ” beautiful brake foot”. All the kids think its hilarious. I think it’s pretty funny too.
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I get ‘not happy Jan’ !
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It’s amazing how many people say that I have an “unusual” name, or cannot work out how to spell it, I’m not just talking those that put an I instead of and E, that’s understandable, but I have had some very interesting interpretations.. I never thought it was that odd…
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I know many “alternative names,” names that aren’t classically chosen, but I find find some quite ok. Some of our more adventurous friends have kids called, Indigo, (nice) Arjuna (are-joon-a) , Tilba, Baya, Manu, Isha (ee-sha) and, get this (spelling as it sounds as I cannot remember the way it’s meant to go,) a-nun-da-va-na…. A very big mouthful for a toddler. Hehe My cousin is called Blossom.. I like some alternative names, and I’m so used to them now they sound familiar to me.
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Think it’s fabulous.. I love their names + they seem like a wonderful family.. I believe it’s up to you as a parent to call your child whatever you wish.. I think ALL their names are incredible! Poppy + Daisy are in face not uncommon.. Now the “celebrity child” babes Like “bud wiser” + “pilot inspector” little bit strange but each to their own.. I personally love a strange name.. My husband on the other hand doesnt so we can to compromise with Hunter.. Not super common but not too way out there.. A happy compromise.. x
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Cute names, and yes you can be imaginative with them, but kids are actually humans, which means that they will become adults one day. Sorry to spoil the fun, but really, a 21 year old called Buddy Bear?
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I know a Princess, a Star, and a Queenie.
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I’m thinking that Jools Oliver is a mum who stays at home with her kids and has a very famous and creative husband. She can call herself and them anyway she likes because it does not matter.
But I bet her parents did not name her Jools, I bet she’s a Julie/ Julia. And she can change back whenever she likes, though, as explained above, her lifestyle means she does not have to.
What if Pooh Bear decide to do a PhD? Or become a medical doctor, politician or lawyer? They’ll probably have to change them.
I reckon the name she has given her kids already categorizes them into having infantile career paths.
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I think you’ll find she actually does work.. Poo bear is a fictional character so I don’t think he could get a PhD..
But if he could I don’t see why he would have to change his name.. How many people are called both their first and second name? My middle name really only get used when filling out forms.. I think we tend to forget that once names like Jack or Oliver where “out there”.. Now perfectly common and normal names.. Categorizing a persons career because of their name is a little discrimitory I think.. I’m sure if Daisy wants to be a Dr she will be known as Dr Daisy Oliver.. Nothing wrong with that.. As for buddy.. Would you say buddy holly had an “infantile career?
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Well put, Katherine! Your name can only restrict you if you let it
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Buddy Holly was born Charles.
I rest my case.
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I work as a midwife and hear many unusual names. I have learnt to perfect my poker face when I hear them.
One woman I cared for was undecided on her new daughters name and over the few days I cared for her she was looking in books and getting ideas. One morning I popped into her room and casually asked if she had a name for her daughter, ‘nearly’ she replied, stupidly I thought she meant she had named her daughter Nearly (which would not have surprised me) so I said oh how lovely! Then I realized she meant she had nearly decided on what to name her baby. Oops!
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Oh I so hear you on perfecting the poker face. Most of the time if the mother / father tells me the baby’s name and it’s ridiculous I can get away with ‘Oh, how interesting’ or something of that ilk. An American woman that I took care of came up with what I consider the worst name I’ve heard. Matrilda-Lashawndra. No typos in either of those names. I actually had to leave the room at that point…
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On no, what a name!!
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Extraordinary, eh? I was so close to asking if she was joking. She wasn’t. Actually, that was a difficult day all round with putting my foot in my mouth because the woman’s husband was 25 years her senior (and she was 43) and I so very nearly asked her if her patner was coming along, or just her father.
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I walked into the SCN to do a test on a baby – I couldn’t fit his name on the consent form.
Just his first and his surname had 54 characters.
That was ridiculous.
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I met 3 sisters the other day – Chanel, Dior and Cartier.
Their mum sounded ridiculous calling out to them.
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No doubt in Kath and Kim twang…
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I don’t mind the names? I wouldn’t want to sit in roll call and have 5 other girls with the same name. It took me a few years to make peace with my name ( obv not Anna!) but now I love it and hate when people abbreviate.
I will make sure my kids have a good nickname though!
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I had friends who. named their kids,Zenneth and Khyaura (pronounced key-aura)
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I really struggled with the common vs original name when naming my two sons. For the first we went with a common but not top 10 name but just couldn’t agree with my husband on the second & ended up with the number 1 name in my state as a compromise. He is now 8 months old but I am still not quite used to it…what are people’s thoughts on changing a child’s name?
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The sooner the better, before he’s old enough to say it!
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I never fell in love with Juliette, but it was the name her dad loved and I liked. She’s now 5 and I like it, don’t love it, but it suits her, ticks all the right boxes, and that’s good enough.
You might never fall in love with the name he has, but that’s ok, ins’t it?
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K-Leb (yes, like K-Fed). Pantera (girl). Vespa (girl). Will Power.
Your kids are people. Not toys (like your cabbage patch doll when you were 4 years old) for you to have fun with.
No. Thank. You.
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I love the name Vesper, it was quite popular in Victorian times.
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I hadn’t heard that before about Vespa! Just associated it with the Italian motorbike and I thought her mother was trying a bit too hard to be cool. Now I know, thanks Jackie.
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My dogs name is Vespa, we named her after Vesper from Casino Royale… love the name, suits her to a T. Never met a person called Vespa though.
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I know a Vesper….but her mother is ALWAYS saying ‘not the motorbike, evensong’.
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I knew a girl called Vesna in primary school.
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Lol if my little girl had been a boy he would have been called max and my partner was desperately trying to convince me to let the middle name be power so he’d be max power- taking after homer Simpson. Thank god it’s a girl!!!
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA that is hilarious!
The Simpsons is one of my favourite shows and I *loved* Homer’s little song he did about Max Power too!
Just gold!!
-Megan, MM Moderater/Intern
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I have the most boring name ever & wish my parents had used a bit more creativity! I have always wanted to change it especially when I was a teenager but it was too hard to pick a new name & too weird for everyone who already knew you to start calling you by a different name.
My friend changed her name from Maree when she was in her 30′s & it was so hard for her Mum & family & old friends to get used to it & you would automatically call her by her old name.
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My eight year old son is Monte and his middle name is Hart. Occasionally people don’t believe that his middle name is Hart. He finds this embarrassing and doesn’t like folks giggling at him so he sometimes says that his second name is “Brian” or “Phil.”
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Python would be cool.
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I didn’t think Hart was an unusual name?? I realise it’s not common but didn’t think it was unusual as such
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No, they shouldn’t
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I don’t think Poppy and Daisy are that out there. Flower names for girls are pretty common through time, Rose, Ivy, Holly, Violet. I went to school with Poppys, and there are Daisys through literature. The Oliver kids second names are what make them a bit strange, but then they’ve got names like Pamela and Elaine or something as well.
At least they’re spelt properly and the kids have options with their middle names if they decide they don’t like their quirky ones.
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Yeah, Daisy and Poppy aren’t exactly weird. In fact, I know a few Daisys and they don’t seem to have been at all hindered by their name – in fact, they seem to be excelling in their pursuits as adults.
That being said, as open-minded as I try to be, who one earth thinks “Boo” is an appropriate name (middle or otherwise) to give a child. Maybe it’s a tribute to Boo Radley (although I doubt it), but I’m still not sure that that makes it ok.
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Sounds like a tribute to Monsters.inc
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As many have pointed out, who goes by their full name (using first and subsequent given names) though? Daisy might decide she wants to be Pamela down the track, and she’s got that in her name as well.
Plenty of people hate their middle names. Why should Jamie and Jools’ kids be immune?
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Look I don’t know about foreign strange unique names for kids especially when born and raised in Australia, or any other Western country…
See my name is Fatima, and I spend A LOT of time on the phone spelling out each letter, and even so it stills gets misspelled to something ridiculous and then I spend even more time fixing the spelling over the phone.., ANYWAY….
When and if I have children they are getting normal everyday names! They can’t go through the shit I went through from being teased in school to putting up with questions like “what a strange name” or “where are you from”. YAWN!
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I sympathise with you. My name, despite my family being English as far back as anyone remembers, is Alethea. She apparently was the Greek Goddess of truth. First days withe a new teacher, job interviews, any remotely formal situation, there is always the mispronunciation issue to deal with, without sounding totally cheesed off and over having to explain how to say it AGAIN. I’ve always been referred to as Thea, some people even struggle with that though. Because it’s odd people struggle to remember it, let alone how to pronounce it. I’ve had every variation you can think of – a couple of people where I work, after 6 years, still insist in rendering to me by an incorrect pronunciation of my full name. AAARRGGGHHHHH! (tears out own hair) It also is one more area for kids to get picked on. I’m all for encouraging individuality, but let them colour their hair at 13 or change their name by deed poll when older if that’s the case. Odd names no can pronounce are a no from me. My girls are called Lily and Phoebe.
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My name is Kirby and I have sisters with extremely common names and I hated mine as a kid but now I love it. Wouldn’t have it any other way, and would love to give my kids names that aren’t the most common. Having a different name feels like a massive part of me now and even though I have definitely gotten flak for it, and stupid questions, and have to spell it every time I say it, the compliments etc make it well worth any negativity!
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I agree. I feel sorry for kids whose parents have given them ‘normal’ names from their homeland but in Australia is just makes them look strange and at times it can make other kids tease them. And pronouncing them can at times be impossible. And all those poor little Greek and Italian boys lumbered with their grandfathers names, which are pretty dreadful for a small child to have to grow up in Australia with…
I understand people like to keep a cultural connection to their homeland but thats what middle names are for
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Thanks Thea for sympathising, it’s great to hear from people who are in the same boat.
Look I understand about being “unique” and “Creative” and whatever, but I mean, there are people I work with the name “Mahboob” and “Pooja”, and I do feel sorry for these people because they must have gone through hell in school. I know I did. I used to get called “Fat” or “Fatty” because the first three letters of my name was “Fat”. Don’t even get me started on the prnunciations and spellings!
If you’re born and raised in Australia, and you’re surrounded by Jessicas and Johns, it’s really not apt to name your kids something wacky and make them go through pain all their lives.
I Just think how much time I’ve wasted of my life spelling each letter of my name, and then re-spelling it because they didn’t get it the first time, and then re-spelling it because it’s been misspelt again.
ARGH!!
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But what happens if I name my kids Bruce and Sheila and then decide to move back to my country of heritage? Won’t their names be equally ridiculous and difficult then?
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I think it’s different for everyone. There are lots of Mohammed’s, Thi’s, Siobhan’s, Aisha’s, and Fatima’s around. I think we all become used to different ethnic names.
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Yes, yes, yes! Thank you guest
Diversity is what makes the world an interesting place.
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I knew a woman who’s name was Sue Flay!!
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AHAHAHAHA oh gee
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I knew of twin girls named Sunshine and Sacrifice.
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Oh dear.
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I take it the parents only wanted one child…
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ha haha!! my thoughts exactly…..
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I think that the Olivers’ kids’ names are cute, yes I agree that Daisy Boo doesn’t really sound like an adult’s name (same for the others), but I know I personally never use my middle name (except for passports/licences etc where I have to), and Buddy, Daisy, Poppy and Petal Oliver really aren’t that weird in the scheme of things, they’re short and easy to spell and pronounce. I personally hated my name for years for reasons people have mentioned before (never, ever having a mug/key-ring/bookmark etc with my name on it), but now wouldn’t ever change it, I like being the only one in my class/workplace with my name, people have no problems pronouncing it and most people know more or less how to spell it, if it’s something important I’ve decided that it’s really not that much effort for me to tell them ’2 Ls and 1 P’, which is usually that’s needed.
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We named our now 6mo baby girl the same name as yours and spent HOURS trying to decide on a spelling! We googled it, looked in books,looked up ohone books and it would seem that anything goes with that name these days, even an ‘F’ at the front.
We had the question of how the easiest way will be for her to spell it, and SO glad to hear you so you just say “2 Ls 1 P” … we decided it would be easier to say “2 Ls and 2 Ps”.
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I knew of a family that named their two kids ‘mawiwana’ and ‘leaf’. Say it out loud. Lol
There’s also a boy called jack (no middle name) Daniels and a Richard Large.
I don’t think the problem is unusual names, I think the problem is parents not teaching their kids to respect others names and not tease kids because of it.
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Am I alone? I LOVE the Oliver children’s names!
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You’re not alone, Sarah! I think they’re sweet!
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My sons have common but newish first names (Top 100) but unusual middle names- River & Halliday, respectively.
The strangest names I’ve ever heard are a brother & sister called Tiger & Jaguar, & a totally Anglo little girl called Toray’Che.
…..
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I know of two kids called justice. One has danger as his middle name. Literally. No judgement, just unusual. Had to laugh when I saw the most recent Ep of how I met your mother- … Spoiler alert…!!!
They called their baby Marvin waitforit erikson. Hilarious!
I was honestly more worried about the spelling than anything naming our kids. My daughter is Lucy and I wanted to spell it lucie, but didn’t want her constantly spelling her name!
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The Olivers are a lovely family and there are stories behind the kids names for sure! My name is unusual and I hate it! I could change it if I wanted to but bave no inclination to! This is what my family wanted me to be called.
I respect that! I may not like it, but that’s life! My daughter has a common name but family middle names.
I do think that naming your own child is your own child is your business! And as a teacher also the spelling can also make them difficult to pronounce! Cc
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This is something to be said for unique names.
My son has a popular name (not in the top 10 though).
Luckily, he managed to go through primary school with no other boy in his year sharing the same name.
But now in High School, he has 5 boys in his class with the same name.
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There is going to be a whole generation of children, who are going to be spending their entire lives both spelling out their names to people and teaching people how to pronounce it.
Seriously, won’t someone think of the children?
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The thing is, everyone is going to be in the same boat now, as there are so many variations of some names, that even the person with the ‘original’ spelling will have to spell it out. I’m Elizabeth, and I’m often asked if it’s with an s or a z. I think it will become (if it’s not already) the norm to spell out your name most of the time
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the two worst names I’ve ever heard for kids were for a boy and girl born to friends of friends – Onesimus (Oh-ness-i-muss) and Trypheena (Try-fee-nah). Yup, these were two intelligent people who came up with names like that. Not sure on the spelling exactly but I don’t think there’s a good way!!!
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See? Despite everyone crying out not to judge…. these names speak of the parents, not the children. Everyone will have an opinion on these names, though the opinions won’t necessarily be the same. Mine? After a quick Google search: the parents are pious and pretentious.
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Oh dear, so many nasty comments from the peanut gallery! Sam de Brito wrote a great blog post in 2009 titled “We’re all bogans to someone” – Google it, it’s well worth the read
In my opinion it is a character flaw to judge someone because of their name or where they come from. Far better to reserve your judgement until their character is revealed.
My name is Sharon and I’m sure someone thinks I’m a bogan
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I love your comment and agree wholeheartedly. If you judge somebody because their name is strange then who does the problem lie with? I’d say the person who judges others so quickly and on things that are none of their business and say nothing about their character. Also, if strange names bother you I would say you need to get out more. There is a whole world of weird and wonderful things out there. Best get used to it.
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“then who does the problem lie with?” and “if strange names bother you I would say you need to get out more” Yes! Exactly! Well said
Cheers,
Sharon
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I hated my name as a child, mainly because I couldn’t buy mugs or magnets etc with it on and also because I didn’t know anyone else with the same name. Now I love it – and they’re the main reasons why! It’s still annoying that people can’t spell it and I get called everything from Cynthia to Colin but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Sorry but what kind of idiot gets Colin from Celia?
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I know two daisy’s. Ones a stripper, one is a marine biologist.
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My son goes to school with a child called H just H
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NO!!!!!!
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Is that allowed??
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‘Haitch’ or ‘Aitch’?
Just to dig up a recent discussion in this forum
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My son is Aari and my daughter Nyah. We wanted different but not weird names, I love the name daisy but hubby wasn’t keen. While I agree that people have a right to name their children whatever they like, I think they need to think about the effect a name has on a child, will they be teased for it? Will they have trouble being taken seriously? Will it harm their employment opportunities? I guess if your name is really holding you back you can just legally change it when you turn 16
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My son is Ari too
Good taste!
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My daughter is Ari
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