Busy Philipps On How Birdie’s Name Came to Be

Fame

While some may not love Busy Philipps‘ name choice for her 17-month-old daughter Birdie Leigh, the Cougar Town star reveals that the shortened moniker is no accident.

“After having grown up with a nickname, there is no way I’m naming my kid one thing and calling her something else,” she noted during a visit to The Bonnie Hunt Show.

“The first day of school or anytime there was a substitute teacher, I had to explain that I preferred to be called this weird adjective instead of Elizabeth. And people would really give me the look that I was a little strange!”

Before Busy became pregnant, she and husband Marc Silverstein were listening to a radio show discussing the late Lady Bird Johnson when inspiration struck.

“My husband said, ‘Wow, what a cool woman and what an amazing name … it would be so cool to name a kid after her,’” Busy recalls. The actress, who also liked ‘Birdie,’ was inititally a bit hesitant as “Lady Bird” was a nickname itself.

Eventually, when the parents-to-be complied a list of baby names for their soon-to-be-born daughter, Busy jotted down Birdie. “We didn’t name Birdie before she was born,” she explains. “When she came out I said, ‘I think we gotta go with Birdie, I think that’s her name.’”

Adding that she loves the “retro” feel of the moniker, Busy admits Birdie’s name fits her to a ‘T’!

Cougar Town airs Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. on ABC.

Source: The Bonnie Hunt Show

– Anya

Click below to watch the video — and learn how Busy got her own nickname!