12 Baby Names Inspired By Famous Dads Who Welcomed New Babies This Year

12 Baby Names Inspired By Famous Dads Who Welcomed New Babies This Year
Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds poses for photographers during a photocall for the film 'Woman in Gold' presented as Berlinale Special at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival Berlinale in Berlin, on February 9, 2015. AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSEN (Photo credit should read ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images)
Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds poses for photographers during a photocall for the film 'Woman in Gold' presented as Berlinale Special at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival Berlinale in Berlin, on February 9, 2015. AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSEN (Photo credit should read ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images)

A hearty Happy Father’s Day to the celebs who welcomed new babies during the first half of 2015 -- in particular the dads who put a lot of thought and care into their baby name choices. Here are the 12 names and namers we'd like to highlight.

Art -- Chris O’Dowd

chris odowd

Somehow this seems like the perfect choice for Irish comic actor O’Dowd -- cool, wry, offbeat and quirky. It’s been rarely used on its own, but has worked as a nickname for Garfunkel, Carney, Pepper and Tatum. In addition to its creative word meaning, it relates to a couple of legendary High Kings of Ireland.

James –- Ryan Reynolds

ryan reynolds

After joking with a talk show host that he was naming his and Blake Lively’s baby Excalibur Anaconda, or Butternut Summersquash, Ryan Reynolds finally announced a pick almost as surprising: a girl named James. But they are not the first to have gender-bent this boy classic -- Brendan Fehr did it first, and several celebs have used it as their daughters’ middle.

McCoy Lee -- Scott Porter

scott porter

Yes, there will be a lot of real McCoy jokes about this recent choice by "Hart of Dixie" star Scott Porter inspired in part by Texas quarterback Colt McCoy. Lots of parents are reevaluating the whole genre of Mc/Mac names for boys, from McKinley to MacGregor.

Rocket Zot -- Sam Worthington

sam worthington

Sam Worthington and Lara Bingle went even more dynamic with their choice of word name Rocket. It was first used by director Robert Rodriguez for his son in 1995, then by rapper Pharrell in 2008 and last year by another musical pair -- for their daughter. It seems that the sci-fi-ish Zot was the nickname of Bingle’s late father.

Poppy -- Nate Berkus

nate berkus

Interior designer and TV personality Berkus and husband Nate Berkus chose the up-and-coming vivid floral name Poppy for his daughter. Picked by a number of other celebs including Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, Anthony Edwards, Jamie Oliver and Jessica Capshaw, Poppy is a blooming Number 12 in England, 64 on Nameberry -- and just ready to burst onto the US Top 1,000.

Silas Randall -- Justin Timberlake

justin timberlake

Silas, the handsome choice of Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, was the middle name of daddy’s maternal grandfather, while Randall is Justin’s own middle name. New Testament Silas is getting to be a red hot oldie, shedding a onetime hayseed image to rise to Number 137 on the charts.

Montgomery Moses Brian -- Sacha Baron Cohen

sacha baron cohen freddie mercury

Sacha Baron Cohen and wife Isla Fischer have come up with unexpected and diverse choices for their kids. First came the trend-setting Olive in 2007, followed three years later by Elula, a Hebrew name, and now the mighty Anglo-Scottish surname name Montgomery for their latest.

Pauline -- Vin Diesel

vin diesel

The world was moved by the touching story of Vin Diesel naming his baby daughter Pauline in tribute to his close friend and "Fast and Furious" co-star Paul Walker, who died tragically in a car crash. Pauline has been off the baby name radar since the 90s, it was a Top 50 name for the first three decades if the 20th century and might be due for a comeback.

Mia Alma -- Perez Hilton

perez hilton second child

There’s a sweet sentiment behind Perez Hilton’s choice Mia Alma, via its meaning, “my soul.” Mia is now the sixth most popular girl’s name in the country, with will over 13,000 baby girls given that name in 2014.

Charlotte Elizabeth Diana -- Prince William

prince william pilot

Talk about name pressure! The popular Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had thousands betting on what their choice would be within the constraints on them. They pulled it off with three classics, honoring the baby’s great-grandma and beloved late grandmother.

Sistine Sabella -- Kevin James

kevin james

The iconic name for the famed Vatican chapel, home of Michelangelo frescoes, provided inspiration for Sylvester Stallone and now to action star Kevin James for their daughters; Kevin James has another daughter evocative of Italy: Sienna-Marie.

steve howey

Steve Howey, the actor who plays Kev on "Shameless" and Van on "Reba," picked what we consider a perfect pair of names for his girl-boy twins. We especially liked his combination of clearly defined, traditional first names, with more imaginative middles.

Like Us On Facebook |
Follow Us On Twitter |
Contact HuffPost Parents

Before You Go

Jessica Simpson: Maxwell Drew

Inspiration Behind Celebrity Baby Name Choices

Close

HuffPost Shopping’s Best Finds

MORE IN LIFE