Caitlyn Jenner: The story behind Bruce's new name

by

Carolyn Robertson

posted in Celebrities

Bruce Jenner just about managed to break the internet today when he boldly (re)introduced himself to the world as Caitlyn Jenner on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine.

See Caitlyn's cover shot here!

The stunning photo has everyone talking, but we here at BabyCenter were naturally all about the name. Why Caitlyn?

A source close to the 65-year-old reality star tells PEOPLE that the name Caitlyn "is what he always loved when he thought about this [female] part of his life.... That's been his name since he was a kid. I'm almost sure."

Indeed, the woman at the center of the story admitted in an interview last month that she had decided on a new name, though she wasn't quite ready to share it at the time.

She is now, though. Posing in a corseted bodysuit for VF's jaw-dropping cover, she asks fans and followers to just "Call me Caitlyn."

Included in the resulting explosion of online chatter was the interesting observation that she very clearly did not choose the name Kaitlyn.

"And yes, the ultimate form of shade is not spelling Caitlyn with the requisite family "K." #CallMeCaitlyn," Tweeted author Janet Mock.

A look at BabyCenter's annual baby name ranking shows that while Caitlyn has been on a fairly steady decline in popularity, it has very recently enjoyed a bit of a resurgence among moms here: The name currently sits at number 176, up an impressive 97 spots from where it landed in 2014.

I can't help but wonder if the lovely meaning behind the name hit home for the former Olympian: An Irish/English form of the name Catherine, it's said to mean "pure."

Caitlyn's transition and public debut is of course about much more than a name, but I imagine that decision would feel like a profoundly important one. Having lived a lifetime as Bruce - answering to a moniker that never truly fit and feeling by her own admission "totally empty inside" - it must have been incredibly empowering to finally give a name to the person she felt she truly was.

Of course, today Caitlyn is learning first-hand that when it comes to names, everybody has an opinion.

"I am extremely disappointed in her name choice!" one mama admitted in the BabyCenter Community today. "I was routing for something along the lines of Bronwen or something sophisticated and classic such as Marcella, Katrina, Louisa, Bridgette, Alana, Victoria, Cecilia, Cora, Coral, Sylvia or Willa."

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What do you think of the name Caitlyn?

Other celebrities who have changed their names, albeit for very different reasons!