Kim Kardashian: Chicago West was almost named Jo, Grace or Donda

We talk a lot about whether Kim Kardashian and Kanye West really are hands-on parents. I tend to think Kanye has a favorite child, North, his first born, and he’s spent the most time with her, but that he is not around most of the time. But call me crazy, I actually think Kim spends a lot of time with her children? She’s not the most hands-on mother who ever lived, of course, but she spends a lot of time with her kids and she knows their personalities and she loves being a mom. I believe that. So in another clip from Kim’s Ellen Show appearance, Kim talks in detail about her children:

She says that Saint is a lot nicer than North, although North and Saint’s relationship seems to be thawing out a bit after two years. She talks a lot about what the experience of surrogacy was like for her and how happy she was with the process from start to finish. She also talked about how they came up with the name Chicago West.

If you’ve been wondering how Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West came up with the name “Chicago” for their new baby girl, wonder no more. Kardashian visited “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” Monday, and revealed all: Chicago, you see, is West’s hometown.

“That is a place that made him, and a place that he remembers his family from,” she told DeGeneres. DeGeneres reminded her that when they’d spoken about baby names, Kardashian had been emphatic about liking single-syllable names. “Chicago is not a single syllable,” DeGeneres pointed out.

“Yeah, it kind of messes with me,” admitted Kardashian, 37, “I’m not going to lie.”

Still, it wasn’t a rock-solid first choice. As she explained, they thought about her grandmother’s name Jo after her grandmother Mary Jo, or maybe Grace. West, 40, initially considered naming the baby after his mother Donda West, who died in 2007.

“He really wanted his mother’s name, and I love that name, too, but I just wasn’t sure,” said Kardashian. “It’s so much to live up to.” And so, the Windy City, became the girl’s new name. “I just felt Chicago was cool and different,” said Kardashian.

[From Today]

She did end up making Chicago into a one-syllable name with “Chi” though, which is the next best thing: a punchy nickname which works better than the original name. Of course, I’m saying that as someone who actually liked the name Chicago West/Chi West. I find it interesting that Kanye was arguing for this baby to be named Donda and Kim shut it down. Maybe Kim should allow middle names? Donda would work well as a middle name. But none of these children have middle names.

Breast Cancer Research Foundation's Hot Pink Party

Photos courtesy of Instagram, screencap from Ellen.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

54 Responses to “Kim Kardashian: Chicago West was almost named Jo, Grace or Donda”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Lola says:

    Im sure this interview is just to deflect from Kanyes mess

    • lightpurple says:

      She has a perfume to promote.

      • Nancy says:

        lightpurple: My prediction is next year Celtics go all the way. If they’re doing so well without their two big stars, imagine when they’re back! Whole other story for the Cavs. I will hold on to the memory of 2016!!

      • lightpurple says:

        And they were without my beloved Jaylen last night. The future does look bright, although this will be a tough round for them to get through as they lack experience with playoff pressure. This is a learning experience for them. Next year, barring more serious injuries, does look good. We’re finally getting some good weather this week, it’s May and we have two teams in the second round of the playoffs here and the Red Sox are off to their best start in their very long history. I savor such times.

      • Nancy says:

        Sports keep us sane or sometimes drive us a little insane, but what would we die hards do without them. Best to your town and mine!

      • Lady D says:

        I’ll say it makes you insane. I’m currently rooting for hockey teams that are normally mortal enemies, and soon get to experience the joys of withdrawal.

    • Clare says:

      I thought this was filmed BEFORE Kanye started acting a fool on twitter (this time).

  2. Alix says:

    Jo West would not only have honored her side of the family for a change, it’d be a cute play on “go west”. But I guess they do things Yeezy’s way.

    And yeah, why no middle names? Handy options for kids who grow up hating their first names…

    • CuriousCole says:

      Namesake situations are emotional. It would go quite badly if my boyfriend tried shutting down the use of my dead father’s names for our kids. Kim pretty much had to allow Kanye’s second choice after she said no to using Donda. It does seem odd that they didn’t give Chicago a middle name, that would have been the best compromise, but coolness seemed to win out.

      • Lady D says:

        Ann Landers once advised a guy who’s wife was adamant she wanted to give their soon-to-be first born her grampa’s last name, which in English sounded just like ‘fire.’ He was worried about getting sued when calling his son’s name in a playground, school, movie theatre, etc. Ann said to let her call him Fire and let mommy cover the legal bills.

    • AnnaKist says:

      I’m so glad they didn’t name the baby Jo…

  3. Alissa says:

    I also like the name Chicago West, but I was surprised they didn’t go with another single syllable name because I don’t feel that it’s super goes with North and saint.

    • Erinn says:

      Yeah I don’t hate the name at all. I think it’s kind of cute. I probably would never name a child that – it’d be weirder since I’m Canadian. But it’s really not nearly as bad of a name as the reaction it got. But I agree- it’s interesting they didn’t go with a single syllable. But I also don’t think Jo would have gone better with North and Saint either, so whatever.

      I know plenty of adults and kids with dumber names than Chicago.

    • Marlene says:

      Same, I don’t mind the name at all. But I think it’s Saint that sticks out. Grace would probably have fit better with Saint, but it doesn’t go so well with the last name. Grace West is like a sound crash – Gray Schwest. :p

  4. Nicole says:

    When In crisis trot out baby talk and the latest gossip about your sister

  5. Beth says:

    I loved my hometown, and always will, but I wouldn’t name a kid after it

    • AnnaKist says:

      I wonder if they’re glad he didn’t grow up in the New Zealand “Windy City”, even though Wellington has a nice sound o it, and I adore that city.

  6. Patricia says:

    Kim comes off as so super sweet and so much more authentic than any of her sisters. I can’t help but like her.

    The low bar some women set for their husbands though… like really Kanye? You can’t be present with your wife for the birth? Maybe I don’t know all the details or the wishes of the laboring woman… but that just comes off so shitty to me.

    • Nancy says:

      I watched and was surprised by her. She actually has a sense of humor. It was cute when she was saying how North wasn’t nice!! I am such a kid lover, that this interview warmed me to KK a bit.

    • Snowflake says:

      It’s an act, watch their show

      • Nancy says:

        No thank you….Ha! I did watch the show in the beginning and they were all like different people than they are now, but it was ten years ago. I only read what’s online, on this site mostly. I cannot look at Khloe, she has become such a vile person. Even in the beginning, she had such a garbage mouth and talked out of both sides of it, which it appears hasn’t changed.

      • Patricia says:

        Snowflake I find her the most likeable on the show also. She has her moments for sure. But she seems down to earth.

        When I watch the show (I’m not an avid watcher but if I’m sick or something I watch it) I find Kendall to be mind numbingly dumb and awful and vapid and just terrible to even be around. I’m surprised people don’t harp on her more because she’s the wooooorst.

      • Clare says:

        If it’s an act then she’s a damn good actress, because she has kept this persona up for a decade. I mean, either she’s a nice person, or a really good actress…which is it?

      • Tiffany :) says:

        It’s a soft scripted show. So whatever you think makes her “nice” on the show is a planned act. Doesn’t mean she’s a great actress. It’s not challenging to be in a soft scripted show.

    • Clare says:

      I won’t use the show as a reference (because editing doohh), but over the years I don’t think anyone she has worked with (other than her brother lol) has come out and said she is anything but nice…I think that says something. This is going back before they had the clout to demand NDA’s etc.

      I mean, I think she’s pretty clueless about the real world, but she seems nice enough and people seem to genuinly like her – even our goddess of the tennis balls, Serena Williams. That’s got to be for a reason.

      • Nancy says:

        I think people do like her. She has a genuine sweetness about her, but don’t mess with her or hers (ask Swifty or Tristan). The star of the house is North. The stories she was telling about her had me laughing out loud.

    • Anastasia says:

      I can’t handle listening to her–is she still using that little fake baby voice? If she’s not, I can watch it. If so, I will start throwing things.

      • Nancy says:

        Lol, she does! In between sentences, she is very breathy and almost seems as though she controls the speed and volume of her words. I honest to God think she practices in front of a mirror. PMK: Ellen Rehearsal Take One…………..Ha!

  7. Lucy2 says:

    All of those choices would have been a better name for a child than “Chicago”.

    • FHMom says:

      I agree. Donda Jo would have been my choice. I’m kind of surprised that Kanye hasn’t used his mom’s name.

    • Nancy says:

      It was pretty obvious during the interview that Kanye makes the deciding vote on names. Grace or Jo would have been so cute and actually got her more attention for normalizing herself to us, the town folk. @FHMom….she only wanted one syllable names….lol….Don???

  8. jferber says:

    Those lips! She reminds me of Salma Hayek in that pic. I just wish she’d get a “pet cause,” such as gun control, anti-rape, anti-sexual abuse, global warming, ANYTHING. She could do so much good if she just lifted a finger and tweeted like our demented president (who does so much harm with his twitter fingers). If she only gave a damn about anything but herself. If she were in the Wizard of Oz, she could ask the great wizard for a social conscience. But hell, if our politicians have no social conscience either. . .

    • Rachel in August says:

      Yes, the lips. Too extreme, just too silly.

    • Katrina says:

      @JFerber, agreed. For all their money and influence it would be nice to see them use their platform for something besides self promotion.

    • Alissa says:

      She actually has done a lot of work to promote Planned Parenthood, brings a lot of attention to the Armenian genocide, and has spoken up for gun control multiple times. …Including on Twitter. Maybe do a quick Google search before complaining that she doesn’t do or say anything?

    • Babs says:

      What about the Armenian genocide? She does good work about it.

    • Zip says:

      Actually, she does speak her mind about social and political issues. Even about what is going on in Armenia.

    • AnnaKist says:

      Yep. She is all mouth. The lips remind me of how I used to draw them when I was 9.

  9. Citresse says:

    Kim looks so much better when her hair is dark.

  10. Dana Marie says:

    I feel bad for Chicago. In Spanish slang , Chi can be interpreted to mean to “urinate” and Cago can be interpreted to mean to “defecate”. But I guess because they are not Hispanic and don’t speak Spanish it doesn’t matter. *sigh* Grace or Jo would I have been better name choices IMO!

  11. Heat says:

    Well, at least they didn’t name the baby after Kim’s hometown of Calabasas.

    Calabasas West.

  12. me says:

    Wow, a mother that knows her children. Give Kim an award !

    • Anastasia says:

      LOL, right?

      • Carrie1 says:

        And yet that’s one of the saddest family photos I’ve ever seen. Nobody is showing emotion, nobody is touching. It’s like a corpse family. I feel bad for the kids.

  13. Dee says:

    Donda? Donde esta Chicago? I can’t deal with this family.

  14. Ladykeller says:

    I certainly wouldn’t pick it but I definitely don’t hate it. What’s wrong with Chicago when Brooklyn, Dakota, London, Paris, india etc. Are acceptable names for kids.

    • DP says:

      I agree! Not my favorite choice, but it makes as much sense as the other places. Chi is a cute nickname too.
      I also don’t think you can have a plain name paired with Saint or North.

  15. DP says:

    Kim usually seems so vain and shallow, but I am pleasantly surprised with how kind, likeable and authetic she seems in this interview.

  16. jferber says:

    If, as other posters stated, Kim does do charity work, then good on her. I’ve just heard the frivolous stuff, I suppose.

  17. Olive says:

    remember when North was born and the first name we heard floating around for the baby was Kaydence Donda? I liked that name!! K for the Kardashians, Donda for Kanye’s mom but just a middle name so not as much to live up to.

  18. Patty says:

    She looks totally different. She looks like Da Brats sister Lisa Raye now. Also, all of Kanye’s kids look just like him. Considering that he appears to have self hate issues, I wonder how he feels about that….hmm.

    • me says:

      He definitely hates himself. He admitted to getting lipo because he said he was afraid of being “fat” and didn’t like the way the media treated Rob about his weight. That’s crazy considering how his mom died. The Kardashians are really not a good example for Kanye. Being “fat” is bad for their brand.

  19. A says:

    I’m surprised they didn’t name the kid Mid West.