Yesterday it was announced that Kate Winslet named her new son Bear. Yes Bear, like the animal. The good news is the baby took his mom's last name not his dad's— Bear Winslet is infinitely better than Bear Rocknroll. I was rather shocked to hear that Kate had picked such an odd name for her third child, considering her other children have such normal names, Mia and Joe. Her choice got me wondering why celebrities pick such odd names for their children? At first I thought it was an attempt to be original, to have a name no one else has for their kid. But actress Alicia Silverstone and chef Jamie Oliver have little boys named Bear—well Jamie's son is Buddy Bear, but Bear is still in his name. So really Bear isn't an original name at all. I remember after Gwyneth Paltrow named her daughter Apple, there was lots of discussion about her doing it to be original. Except when she explained how she chose Apple's name, she said she grew fond of it after her friend named her baby Apple. Celebrities aren't being original at all with their baby names, they are often just inspired by friends and family. Maybe celebrities like the attention that comes with picking odd names. Case in point, North West. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West love getting as much publicity as possible so it's not surprising they named their daughter something that would garner a lot of attention.  Kim even laughed at the ridiculousness of the name North West when she was on Jay Leno's show while still pregnant. She knew it was a silly moniker to strap a child with and yet she named her baby that anyway. It's all about attention for some celebrities. But Kate Winslet is no Kardashian, so I don't think she named her baby to get attention. My only remaining theory on weird celebrity baby names is that being in Hollywood makes you feel like you have to be trendy and push boundaries in order to stay on top. And picking a weird name for your baby is a sure-fire way to push boundaries. It's the only explanation I can conceive of for why singer Fergie and actor Josh Duhamel naming their son Axl. Or why Cougar Town actress Busy Phillips named her daughter Cricket. Or why Jessica Simpson named her daughter Maxwell Drew. It's all about pushing boundaries for some celebrities. But once again Kate Winslet just doesn't strike me as someone who is trying to be trendy. She's just so classic, she doesn't need to worry about staying hip in Hollywood. So that leaves me with the only true theory about why celebrities pick these names—they just like them, as weird as they may be. Some celebrities have truly lovely, unique baby names like Jimmy Fallon's daughter Winnie Rose or Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner's daughter Seraphina. I think unique baby names are beautiful. But there's a difference between unique and weird. And as much as I love Kate Winslet, I think Bear is a weird baby name. But he's not my kid so who am I to judge. Congratulations Kate on your new baby Bear. What do you think of celebrity baby names?  Photo courtesy of Andrea Raffin/Wikimedia Commons