The TODAY show recently profiled a real life woman named the ๐ง♀️fairy tale๐ name of ๐๐ Cinderella✨! ๐คฏ
๐๐ Cinderella✨ Kemunto Kidwell explains how she from Kenya, became the bearer of the dreamy, storybook๐ / Disney๐ฐ movie๐ฅ name every little girl ๐ง๐ฟ๐ง๐พ๐ง๐ฝ๐ง๐ผ๐ง๐ป๐ง knows the tale of: “Growing up, we were not very well off, and my dad is a big dreamer." To her dad (an English literature teacher with a fondness for fairy tales), ๐ Cinderella✨was a “grass-to-grace” story about perseverance: a young woman who overcame hardship through hard work and ultimately found a better life. But growing up, ๐ Cinderella✨ did not always appreciate having the name of one of the world’s most recognizable fictional characters. “Kids would tease me at school,” she admits. “And I went from being proud of my name to embarrassed.” By age 11, she had asked friends and classmates to call her ๐Cindy instead, a choice that followed her into early adulthood.
After becoming a model, ๐ Cinderella✨ continued to keep her legal name at arm’s length. In 2016, when she won the title of ๐Miss ๐World
Kenya Kisii County, she used the nickname Cindy, that she had adopted as a child. However, the name she had long kept to herself continued to draw admiration. Whenever people saw “๐ Cinderella✨” written on official documents, they often remarked on how beautiful it was. And It wasn’t until years later that ๐ Cinderella✨ began to see her own life reflected in the fairy tale her father loved.
At 25, ๐ Cinderella✨ left Kenya and moved to the
United States alone. In America, she found herself starting over without a support system. Back home, she had built a successful career as a model, artist and makeup artist. For the first three years, she worked as a caregiver, setting aside many of the creative pursuits that had once defined her. She spent her days helping others, cooking meals, cleaning homes and caring for clients. But unlike the fairy-tale heroine, however, she says the people she cared for treated her with kindness. Looking back, she can’t help but notice the irony of finding herself in a role that mirrored the character she was named after. “Wake up, clean the house, cook for them, draw with them, sing with them,” ๐ Cinderella✨ recounts.
Then In 2023, ๐ Cinderella✨ magically met her real life ๐คดprince, Bradley Kidwell. The
couple married seven months later. “My husband has always treated me like a queen,” ๐ Cinderella✨ gushes.
As far as her distinct name, she is returning to social media and creative work under the name she once tried to hide. “I keep on joking that I’m my own fairy godmother, because I transformed my own life,” ๐ Cinderella✨ jokes. At 30, she says she finally understands why her father chose ๐ Cinderella✨. “Now, I’m becoming proud of it. I’m at the happily-ever-after part of the story.”
Behind The Name says the name ๐๐ Cinderella✨ means "little ashes" in part from the
French name ๐Cendrillon.
๐Nameberry๐says the name ๐๐ Cinderella✨ means "little ash-girl" and it is "one familiar name never used for real people, for obvious reasons."
๐NB๐ expands on ๐๐ Cinderella✨: "๐ฐDisney ๐Princess ๐names are full of magic and wonder. Many successful Disney movies have significantly impacted naming trends, and the princess characters are historically some of the most influential. One of the most widely known fairy tales of all time is the rags-to-riches story of ๐ Cinderella✨. The name ๐ Cinderella✨ is meant to be a mashup of ๐Cinder, as in ashes, and ๐Ella, meaning girl. While ๐ Cinderella✨ has not, nor will it likely ever, get any sort of significant use (๐ Cinderella✨ entered the US Top 1000๐ in 1894 and ranked at #1256๐. Unfortunately it seemed to peak at popularity last in 1970 at #4807๐.) as a given name, some retellings provide a different perspective on the heroine's name. In Disney's 2015 live-action adaptation, as well as the 2013 Broadway adaptation, the character's real name is Ella, and ๐ Cinderella✨ is merely a teasing nickname given by her evil step-sisters due to her job of sweeping chimneys. Ella definitely has a lot more potential, currently ranking at #25 in the US after resurfacing from its 100-year hiatus. It should also be noted that the name ๐Cindy rose significantly after the original Disney movie's release, reaching its peak a few years later in 1957. Coincidence? Maybe. Cindy was already on the rise, but I like to think a few parents may have been inspired by the sweet ๐ Cinderella✨."
๐๐ Cinderella✨ has a variant spelling: ๐Sinderella. ๐Names.org says: "Sinderella is a modern, stylized variant of ๐ Cinderella✨. The “Sin-” spelling likely emerged in late 20th–21st century Anglophone pop culture as a playful or edgy respelling, sometimes evoking “sin” for tongue-in-cheek contrast with the virtuous heroine."
๐California๐ and ๐Alaska๐ฅถ are the states where the most ๐๐ Cinderellas✨ call home.๐ก
Below are a variety of comments from Behind The Name on the name ๐๐ Cinderella✨:
I absolutely love ๐ฅฐ the name ๐๐ Cinderella✨ being given to a real life girl! ๐ค It's a beautiful, charming name (I love ๐ the alternate, more modern ๐Sinderella as well) — plus who wouldn't want to be one the very few ๐ Cinderella✨ walking around in the world?! With the ๐heart-warming story of ๐๐ Cinderella✨ Kemunto Kidwell — it's inspiring ๐ an I'm especially glad she ๐ฏembraced her super special name her wonderful father ๐gifted her. ๐๐พ
⭐FAMOUS & ๐NOTEWORTHY ๐๐ CINDERELLAS✨:
๐๐ Cinderella✨ "Cindy" Sanyu ๐ค (singer in ex girl group Blu*3)
๐๐ Cinderella✨ "Cindy" Obenita ๐ถ♀️ (model & beauty pageant title holder of ๐Miss Intercontinental 2021)
๐Diana ๐ Cinderella✨ Mildred (Bowes-Lyon) Somervell ๐ (daughter of nobleman John Bowes-Lyon; uncle of ๐Queen Elizabeth II)
๐๐ Cinderella✨ ๐ผ (woman sung about in song by ๐คsinger Diana Vickers)
๐๐ Cinderella✨ ๐ผ (woman sung about in song by ๐คsinger Britney Spears)
๐๐ Cinderella's✨ ๐ง♀️Fairytale๐ ๐ผ (woman sung about in song by ๐rapper Sid Shyne)
๐๐ Cinderella✨ ๐ผ (woman sung about in song by ๐rappers Future &๐Travis Scott)
๐๐ Cinderella✨ ๐ผ (girl sung about in song by ๐คsinger Steven Curtis Chapman)
๐๐ Cinderella✨ Welles ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฅ (baby girl, daughter character of character Tom Welles, played by Nicolas Cage in the movie ๐8MM)
๐STATS ON THE NAME ๐๐ Cinderella✨:
https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/C/CI/CINDERELLA/index.html
☔๐IRN RATING OF ๐๐ Cinderella✨: ๐ OR ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐/10