Michael Bloomberg’s Granddaughter Has a Pretty Unusual Name

Emma and Georgina Bloomberg with their father, Michael Bloomberg, as he swears in for his third term as New York City mayor. Image by Getty Images

By Anne Cohen July 8, 2015

Love it or hate it, in New York, the Bloomberg name means something.

But Michael Bloomberg’s first and only granddaughter will never have the unique pleasure of receiving side-eyed glances aimed at that Bloomberg girl. Born to Emma Bloomberg and Chris Frissora on March 22, Zelda Violet was given the hybrid surname “Frissberg,” (Frissora + Bloomberg = Frissberg).

A spokesman for Bloomberg told the Times that “the name is meant to represent that Zelda is a combination of her parents,” and is a “term used by friends to describe [her parents] as a couple.”

Bloomberg’s other grandchild — his youngest daughter Georgina’s son Jasper — also endured some naming escapades. He was first given the surname of his father, Ramiro Quintana, at birth. After Quitana and Georgina split up, Jasper took on his mother’s name. (There is now a gallery at the new Whitney Museum of American art named after him.)

But Frissberg is far from the first Jewish hybrid name. In 2006, New York Times reporter Jodi Wilgoren announced that she would be going by the name “Rudoren,” a combination of the first three letters from her husband Gary’s surname, Ruderman, and the four last letters of her own.

“It’s just a made-up moniker,” she wrote at the time, “but it is made up of our commitment to equality, with a nod to family history and a dash of out-of-the-box creativity. Most important, it is a name we share and will share with our potential offspring. To me there is no sound so sweet.”

Which all begs the question: What would other Jewish celebrity hybrid names sound like? We decided to try a few combinations:

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick: Brodker/Parkerick

Black Tie: Actors Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker get all gussied up for the reopening of the New York City Center. Image by Getty Images

Drew Barrymore and Will Kopelman: Barryman/Kopelmore

Image by Getty Images

David Benioff and Amanda Peet: Beet/Penioff

Image by Getty Images

Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher: Kutchis/Kuner

Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher Image by Getty Images

Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied: Portepied/Milleman

Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied Image by Getty Images

Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman: Bandelman/Hanks

Image by Getty Images

Lena Dunham and Jack Antonoff: Dunhoff/Antonham

Image by Getty Images

Jessica Sklar and Jerry Seinfeld: Skleinfeld/Seinfar

Image by Getty Images

Have any hybrid name suggestions? Let us know in the comments!

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO