Almost as Bad as Julia Goulia

A long time ago in a land far, far away called Hollywood there were two beautiful anchors, Giuliana DePandi and Jillian Barberie. Great names, right? "Fame names" is what I call them, you know, ones that sound like the monkier a real celebrity would have—or at least someone who interviews celebrities. Well, at least they did. Both ladies got married and opted for inferior surnames in the process. Giuliana DePandi became Giuliana Rancic when she married Apprentice winner Bill Rancic, and made herself sound like spoiled meat. (sidenote: does anyone actually “win” if they’re on The Apprentice?)


Ironically (and something I learned after a wikipedia search) Jillian was born Jillian Warry and married up, last name-wise, in 1996 with a wedding to Bret Barberie (a baseball player--one of the few times an athlete will be mentioned on here). Then she rocked the surname hard-core for a long-time before opting for the snoozeville that is Reynolds. Even Star Jones only hyphenated her name when she married a Reynolds.

Now look, I have nothing against women taking their husbands last names, tradition is fun! But as someone saddled with an unfortunate last name I take major offense when anyone ditches a perfectly perfect last name for something generic, boring and average.