This past week, popular social media influencer Trisha Paytas gave birth to her first born child, a baby girl. With her very public presence on social media, this long awaited day was celebrated by her devoted followers, myself included. During the pregnancy, Paytas was very open about her journey, sharing many photos, videos, and even a gender reveal with her online audience. But there was one thing she kept a close secret, that being the baby’s name. Nine months of patient anticipation for the reveal of the name was resolved with one simple Instagram caption. “She has arrived. Malibu Barbie Paytas-Hacom.” 

Although the name is odd, it didn’t really come as a huge shock to me. I mean, celebrities have named their kids way worse. Look at Elon Musk and Grimes for example, they definitely didn’t look in a baby name book to find 

X Æ A-12. If I’m being completely honest, I expected worse. With the long and somewhat confusing reputation of Trisha Paytas, naming her daughter after a beloved children’s toy seems quite tame. 

Paytas began her social media influencer journey in 2007, posting on her Youtube channel devoted to Quentin Tarantino Films. Then in 2013, she attempted to break the world record for fastest talker, articulating 650 words per minute, but failed. Adding onto her extensive portfolio, she made an appearance on America’s Got Talent, and then another on The Ellen Show and then another on My Strange Addiction as a self-diagnosed tanning addict. Paytas has also dipped her toe in the music industry, releasing many singles and even a full length album in 2015. She has now accumulated quite the following, with 7.3 million followers on TikTok. But this is only a fraction of what she has accomplished so far, and I’m sure she has much more to share with her internet fans. 

Wolf, Gravity, Pilot Inspektor, Cosmo, and Kulture. All names of children of prominent figures in pop-culture. Trisha Paytas just tacked on another to the ongoing list of strange and unnecessarily absurd baby names. I see it as a desperate grasp for originality, but who am I to judge? Welcome to the world, Malibu Barbie,I hope it treats you well.