Zuma Nesta Rock: Behind Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale's Name Choice

With many readers expressing their opinions on Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale's choice of Zuma Nesta Rock for their new baby boy, we spoke to Linda Rosenkrantz, co-author of The Baby Name Bible: The Ultimate Guide By America's Baby-Naming Experts, about the possible meanings behind each name choice. We've also gathered quotables from Linda's co-author, Pamela Redmond Satran, and PEOPLE's Jessica Gold Haralson. Here are their thoughts! 1) Zuma: The likely inspiration, agreed upon by Linda, Pamela, and Jessica, is Zuma Beach, Calif, a surf spot Linda describes as "beautiful." Continuing with the place-naming tradition they started with older son Kingston, Pamela tells Us Weekly that it's a spot Gavin has spoken of in the past. "He was standing on Zuma Beach in the early morning after working all night as a production assistant on a music video and was quoted as saying he realized he was wasting his time. He drove up the coast, slept in his car, and started making the moves that would launch his career." In addition to Gavin's remarks, PEOPLE's Jessica says the spot "was the inspiration for Neil Young's album Zuma, making the locale a bona-fide musical landmark" that may have interested the singer/songwriters. Other Zumas that readers may be familiar with include the 2004 video game, which "required players to remove balls rolling around the computer screen ... before they filled up the screen," says Jessica. Linda also mentions Jacob Zuma, the president of the African National Congress, who was dismissed from the government in 2005 among allegations of corruption. 2) Nesta: The middle name fits with the theme of Kingston's first name -- Jamaica and reggae! Nesta was Bob Marley's given name. Linda explains, "He was born Nesta -- which means "messenger" -- Robert Marley, and reversed the first two names when he came to America. His son Ziggy honored his late father by calling his little boy Gideon Nesta Robert, and Lauryn Hill also used it as a middle name for her and
	Published: 2008-08-22 Provider: Celebrity Baby Blog
Keywords: Names