Exotic and unthinkable choices like Lazer Lee Louis and Kulture Kiari, mainstream favorites like Leo and Luna, and classics like Josephine and Alexander all fit into the same category of celebrity baby names. A variety of styles, sounds, and origins, celebrity baby names, or celebaby names, often reflect some of the hottest trends in the baby naming community or push certain sounds to the front of parent’s name lists. Celebaby names are utterly fascinating and incredibly fun to look into for their tendency to show what parents today are into (minus Ice and Powerful Queen etc...though those could signal a surge of bold word names in the near future!) Today, I’m taking a look at some of the late January and February celebaby names, including sibling name comparisons, meaning and origin analysis, and my opinions on the names chosen. Well, that seems to be all, so let’s take a look!
Sloane
Ashlyn Hariss and Ali Krieger, both soccer players for the Orlando Pride team, have recently adopted a baby girl, whom they’ve called Sloane. Sloane is a sleek, surname style girl name with a touch of feminine flair, a lovely choice for a little girl in the same vein as Harper or Palmer, yet with a pinch of the effortless beauty of Simone instead of the spunk of the -er ending. An Irish surname with the feisty meaning of “warrior,” I’m delighted to see this one in use. A name that ranks at #190, popular, but not overly so, Sloane is pretty and contemporary, a lovely fit for a growing family today. Sloane already rocks a pretty decent popularity, but more exposure for this calm and collected surname name for girls can’t hurt. As for my own opinions on the name Sloane, I think it’s tailored yet powerful, a surname name that somehow communicates sophistication and elegance in a brief one syllable format. For me, the lack of nicknames is an instant deal breaker, but I personally adore Sloane for a family wild for surname style baby names. Congratulations to Ali and Ashlyn for their adorable new addition!
August Harrison
Mandy Moore, leading actress in This Is Us, and her husband Taylor Goldsmith have brought their first child, a son, into the world this February. They chose the thoroughly on trend combination August Harrison, both names I’ve been spotting both in real life and in the celebaby world with increasing frequency. Mandy explains the reasoning behind her young son’s name by sharing that she discovered that she was expecting in the month of august, in addition to it being the birth month of her husband. August is a month name with a vintage gleam that has been flooding back into style, ranking at #167 as of 2019. A name with the same trendy “old-man” style as Theodore, August is really making a name for himself in recent years. And Mandy even revealed her son’s nickname: Gus. I’ve loved Gus since I was ten, and the sweet nerdiness doesn’t hurt, so needless to say, I’m a pretty big fan of this choice, although August in full has begun to fade from my personal top baby boy names. In order to modernize this slightly older choice, Mandy and Taylor chose the stylish and contemporary surname Harrison for the middle name of their son. That trending -son sound for surname boy names combined with the familiar Harri- sound rooted in traditional Harry has made #112 Harrison even more of a superstar than August. August Harrison flows beautifully in a syllabic sense, though for me, the nickname Gus is what really brings August Harrison to a whole new level.
Noah Jon- Brother to Titan Jewell
Kelly Rowland, past member of Destiny’s Child and an actress welcomed her second little boy with her husband Tim Witherspoon. Although I attempted to predict the name of her baby boy, I’m afraid to say that I was way off base. As a brother to Titan Jewell, I expected a name just as rare as #684 Titan, and with the same bold sound and feel as well. Among my predictions were Orion and Solstice, just to name a few. However, the couple went for the much more classic and mainstream Noah Jon, a traditional baby boy name that also feels appropriate for a 2021 little boy. Noah is currently at #2 for little boys, making the popularity gap between Titan and Noah quite staggering. However, although Titan and Noah may not match perfectly in a stylistic sense, I quite like the strength that both boy names exude, which really ties them together well. I would’ve personally put Noah with a much bolder middle than Jon just to level out the differences between bold, powerful Titan Jewell and solid, dependable Noah Jon, but the combination standing alone is common and simple, and the syllables balance out quite nicely. I myself am not a fan of Jon, particularly this spelling, but I can see the gentle yet strong appeal of Noah. I love the tie of Jewell and Jon being alliterative for the middle name. It provides a strong connection between two names that otherwise aren’t the most obvious brother names.
Riley
Singer Meghan Trainor and her husband Daryl Sabara announced their son’s arrival this February, a name that I attempted predicting. I didn’t quite hit a home run with this one like I did with Katy Perry’s daughter Daisy, but I did approach the name they actually chose for their little boy. My description of the type of name she would choose was “something contemporary and sweet,” and my closest guess was Finley, and as you can see, Meghan and Daryl settled on Riley for their new son. A surname name that has long since evolved into more of a first name, Riley for boys currently ranks at #263, though the name is much more popular as a girl name, this spelling ranking at #30 with plenty of alternative and more feminine spellings such as Ryleigh (#138) and Rylee (#100). Essentially, Riley is much more popular as a girl name, particularly when accounting for all of her incredibly popular alternative spellings. However, I have to agree with Meghan Trainor on this one. I really love the sounds of Riley on a boy as opposed to a girl, and little Riley is no exception. Although I’m normally not the biggest fan of surname names or names that have a more modern vibe as opposed to a vintage one, I can completely get behind Riley on a little boy.
Upcoming Celebabies:
Let’s move on to the celebabies to be that we’re welcoming in a few months. I’ll predict the names (though you’re free to leave your ideas and guesses for these celebrities down below in the comments section!), and we’ll check back when the names are announced. First up are the The Hills: New Beginnings stars Jason and Ashley Wahler. They share a little girl, called Delilah Ray, and have announced they’re expecting earlier this February. For a little girl, I expect an equally fluid and feminine baby name (Adelynn, Evelyn, Arabella, Dahlia). For a baby boy, I’m predicting a softer yet strong name (Noah, Tobias, Maxwell) that shares that same familiarity of Delilah. Next up is Jessa Sewwald, formerly Jessa Duggar, who’s welcoming her fourth baby shortly. Jessa and her husband Ben share three children, Spurgeon, Henry, and Ivy. When I first found the names of her children, I was shocked. Henry and Ivy obviously belong together, but Spurgeon? A huge outlier. I dove into some research, pulling out articles from 2015 and trying to find his name story. Thankfully, I did. Spurgeon is named for past preacher Charles Spurgeon, who was a great inspiration to Jessa and Ben when they bestowed it upon their little boy. Otherwise, Henry and Ivy seem to follow an on-trend vintage theme, and I think this future child’s name will comply. For a little girl, I’m thinking something modern yet with a teeny bit of retro mixed in, and perhaps continuing with the nature name theme (Olive, Violet, Ruby, Hazel). As for a baby boy, names with a bit more vintage flavor might do (Oliver, Arthur, Owen, Leo).
The final celebaby to be that I’m going to predict the name of is that of Ellie Goulding, English singer of “Lights,” who’s recently announced that she’s expecting with her husband Casper Jopling. After taking a look at some photos of Goulding, which is really the best hint I have given that this is their first child, I thought I had her whole style down: glamorous and dramatic (Evangeline, Ophelia, Margaux, Guinevere, Augustus, Leonardo). But then I did a bit more research and found something Ellie said about gender not being a focus for her and her husband, and how they didn’t seek out being clued in on the gender of their little one. This confuses things a bit. Now I’m curious if they’ll go for something stylish and gender neutral for their little boy (Elliot, Rowan, Ezra, Onyx) and something a bit less frilly for a little girl (Sloane, Shiloh, Wren, Gio). I’m still not sure which set makes the most sense, but I guess we’ll see soon enough! Thank you all so much for sticking around, Name Warehouse readers, and may you all have a fantastic rest of your day. Remember to let me know what you may guess these celebrities are going to call their children, and what you think about Sloane, August Harrison, Noah Jon, and Riley!
Sincerely,
-Delphina Moon