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week after Michael Jackson's death and a couple of hours after giving birth, Ika Karlina Idris, 25, sent a text message to her friends: "Baby Mikail Jakson has been born."

She was joking.

"I was inspired by Michael Jackson's death and the rumor that he converted to Islam and changed his name to Mikael," she said.

After months of wondering what to name her baby - she was leaning toward Niskala - she finally named her son Mikail Azka Wijaya.

Parents have always been influenced by events and trends in choosing names for their children. In Indonesia, another trend has shaped the names of Indonesian children.

Ayahbunda magazine editor-in-chief Tenik Hartono says besides using religious-sounding names such as Rafi, Daffa, Nabila or Salsabila for Muslims, or Matthew and Andrew for Christians, parents were exhibiting a return to Indonesian roots.

Parents now choose exotic names from Sanskrit, such as Kala, and from ethnic dialects. But the most recent trend is to use everyday Indonesian words from nature.

"There's a move toward common words from nature, such as Bintang *Star*, Langit *Sky*, Angkasa *Space* and Bumi *Earth* as names for children," Tenik says.

Scriptwriters Ginatri S. Noer and her husband Salman Aristo are one such example. They named their daughter Biru Langit Fatiha Argiputri. Biru Langit means Blue Sky, while Fatiha is the opening verse of the Koran.

"The name means the start of a sunny day," Ginatri says, adding it also reflects the couple's yearning for blue skies in Jakarta.

She says she and her husband often discuss how rare blue skies are in the smog-enclosed capital.

She agrees there are definitely trends in baby names, and points out the trend in the early 2000s to give babies Arabic-sounding names such as Arrasyad or Annisa.

She knows of five children with the name Langit, she adds.

"Maybe people were inspired by the film Banyu Biru," Ginatri says.

Banyu Biru is the 2005 movie of a man of the same name. Banyu means water in Javanese, while Biru means blue in Indonesian.

Parents opting to use Indonesian words say they don't need to research in books or the Internet.

Animator Kelik Wicaksono and his wife already know what they will call their unborn child.

"We'll name the baby Senyumpagi," Kelik says.

The name, a combination of the words senyum and pagi, meaning Morning Smile, has a sentimental value for Kelik.

"The thing that makes me most happy is having someone who smiles and makes us smile when we wake up every morning," he says.

Tenik says the trend toward Indonesian words shows an increasing nationalism.