Real-life read: Do my kids have weird names?!

Kathy Robertson-Cipak and her kids Darval, Reef, Tiamo-Lee, Jet’aime and Scott.
Kathy Robertson-Cipak and her kids Darval, Reef, Tiamo-Lee, Jet’aime and Scott.

Kathy Robertson-Cipak and her kids (from left) Darval, Jet’aime, Scott, Tiamo-Lee, Jet’aime and Reef.

Mum Kathy Robertson-Cipak grew up in outback Queensland where everyone she knew had a ‘common name’ – and it wasn’t until she started watching US TV shows that she realised she could be a bit more adventurous when it came to picking monikers for her own children.

Son Darval, eight, is the youngest and the name, and Kathy explained how his name came about.

‘While in Darwin, Darval was conceived on Valentine’s Day. So I named him Dar for Darwin and Val for Valentine,’ she explains.

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His older brother Reef, nine, was given his title because of his father’s love for the sea.

And while the two girls – Tiamo-Lee, 19, and Jet’aime, 10 – often have to teach people how to pronounce their names, their mum says that they both love standing out from the crowd.

'Ti amo is my favourite song from the 1980s sung by Laura Branigan and means “I love you” in Italian,’ she explains.

‘So, to keep in pattern with “I love you,” I named my next daughter Jet’aime, which means “I love you” in French'.

Then there’s Scott, 21, who Kathy insists is too laid-back to worry about having the only standard name among his siblings.

'I was a big Neighbours fan back then and I loved Scott and Charlene, so it's still special to me,' she explained.

Read the full story in this week's issue of New Idea, out now.

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