Which Scott? You Know, Moroccan Scott. Oh Right, That One

Hot on the heels of the "Most-Hated Baby Names in America" list, Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon have released the names of their new twins.

The girl is named Monroe, while the boy is called Moroccan Scott.

From People magazine:

Monroe was named after Marilyn Monroe, who has been an inspiration to Carey, 42, while Moroccan comes from the top-tier of Carey's New York City apartment, which features Moroccan-inspired décor and was also the site of Cannon's marriage proposal.

Be grateful they didn't have Ikea furniture, or one of the kids would be named EKTORP TULLSTA.

Now, you might think someone who wanted to honor Marilyn Monroe would name their daughter...oh, I don't know...Marilyn. But that would have been too obvious.

I wonder instead why they didn't go with Norma Jeane or Mortenson. Nobody would expect that.

I have similar thoughts whenever someone chooses a name inspired by "To Kill a Mockingbird." Everybody wants to call their daughter either Harper (after Harper Lee) or Scout (after the book's main character). But Harper Lee's real name is Nell, and Scout's real name was Jean Louise. Wouldn't it be more clever to use one of those? Nell is VERY available, people — not even in the top 1,000 of names. (I think maybe this didn't help.)

As for Moroccan Scott, it just makes it sound like someone knows a lot of guys named Scott and there needed to be a way to distinguish them. Fat Scott, Moroccan Scott, the Scott with a goiter.

I always had that question about 1990s rapper Black Rob (famous for the hit, "Whoa!"). Was he one of many Roberts in a multi-ethnic group growing up, and he needed to make it clear he was the black one?