I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it.
Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston welcomed their first child into the world, Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston on December 27, 2008.
NAME UPDATE 12/31/08: Tripping is kind of penalty in hockey, and Easton is a brand of hockey stick. So Tripp Easton is in essence, tripping another player with your stick. Not so friendly. (Though it is nice when my better half can throw his two cents into the name blog!)
Now when the Palin children first hit the news I didn’t touch their names with a ten foot pole. Why? I don’t want the blog to get too political, and mostly I feared partisan commentary would take over the more pertitinent topic of baby names. All joking aside, I just can’t help myself today. We’re all familiar now with the Palin monikers: Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig. Track, their first born, was named literally after the running track. Bristol is after Alaskan Bristol Bay. Willow is also after an Alaskan community, and while they just thought Piper was a cool name, it’s also the name of a small aircraft common in Alaska, and so might have been in their consciousness that way. Trig was chosen for after his great uncle and for its meaning, from the Norse Trygg which means “safe and truthful” according to one Scandinavian site. Bristol has really grown on me since I first heard it. I know of several local and celebrity little Willows and Pipers, so nothing shocking there. But I still struggle with naming a child after a sports apparatus, and the matchiness of the brothers’ names.
Now add young Tripp to the mix. Baby Trig and his nephew Tripp will be a mere 8 months apart. I’m truly intrigued by the choice of name. Why give a name so similar to his uncles when they will undoubtedly be raised along side one another? Does anyone else have a hard time trying to say the names together?
My search for history on the name only leads to use as a nickname or as a surname. Most often it is a nickname standing in for “three”, for either the third son or the third in a lineage of males with the same name.
He is a third of sorts. Where all three names are concerned, I can’t help picturing the poor boy tripping on the track while lamenting failure on his most recent trig exam.
While Tripp isn’t my style per se, I can see reasons why they might have chosen it. To an extent pays homage to Bristol’s brothers, and makes him part of a distinct trio. It also may symbolize a voyage, or more specifically for Tripp Easton, a trip east? There are many things to appreciate here, and I wish the Palin-Johnstons all the best.
For a diplomatic perspective on the Palin names, please see Laura Wattenberg’s post on Alaskan baby naming.
For a less diplomatic perspective, please visit the Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator.
Image Above: Stokke’s unrelated Tripp Trapp high chair, that the young lad just might be using before too long!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Not a fan here. Easton’s a city in PA, to me and really not great as a namesake. Tripp is nicknamey and even a touch cartoony. But then, with her family history, I didn’t expect anything stellar. I’m glad he’s healthy and she’s fine too. (Giving birth at 18 is something I’m familiar with, I had Leo & Simon a week shy of 19). My best to the Palin-Johnston family.
I find Tripp Easton to sound like you’re going to visit PA. I too think of the city in PA, and putting Tripp Easton together just sounds like a vacation to me…
Eh. Oh well.
Ya know, I live in Pennsylvania but don’t don’t connect Easton with the city… maybe because I’ve only lived here 2.5 years and Easton is nowhere near me. It’s not something I would choose, but I can see how they’d find it appealing, and I doubt they connect it with PA at all. As for Tripp though, it wouldn’t be surprising at all except for the fact that he and Trig are so close in age… I just don’t see why you’d do that. It’s going to be so confusing. When you think about Tripp standing for three, it certainly makes sense and is kind of sweet. Meh, I don’t have a problem with it, I could realy care less about the Palin clan, but they sure are in for a lifetime of tongue-twisters.