TV actress Mariska Hargitay (Law and Order) and husband Peter Hermann have named their newborn son August. And it’s only June! Seriously, August is actually a real name, but probably more common in its native Germany, where it means ‘exalted,’ or ‘revered.’ In the United States, the likely connotation will be that the little guy is named for the month of August. Still, it beats calling him April.

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Actress Elisabeth Shue and husband David Guggenheim welcomed their third child, a daughter, on June 18, and promptly gave her a boy’s name for a middle name. The new Shue is named Agnes Charles. I have nothing against the name Charles, except that it’s kinda stuffy. But newsflash, Elisabeth and David: Charles is a boy’s name. What a wacky combination: a traditional girl’s name like Agnes with one of the most traditional boy’s names you can think of. Go figure.

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UPDATE: Jack Black’s second son, born May, 2008, has arrived. His name is Jack. After a slew of wacky baby names, movie star Jack Black and wife Tanya have named their newborn boy Samuel, and according to Black, he’ll go by the nickname ‘Sammy.’ Once again, I’m seeing the continuation of a trend here, started by Mira Sorvino, who named her son Johnny, of going with simple, plain baby names. This follows a season of weirder-than-usual baby names that seems to have peaked with the often-criticized Suri, daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

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Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso welcomed their new daughter into the world on June 11, and named her Isabella. There’s not a great deal I can say about the name Isabella. For a celebrity naming, it’s pretty tame. Maybe I was on to something when I mentioned that Mira Sorvino was starting a “plain name” trend in Hollywood when she named her son Johnny. Or as Freud said, sometimes a name is just a name.

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Adam Carolla, the radio show host who replaced Howard Stern on Infiinity Broadcasting, has named his son after one of the most memorable characters from the Godfather, Santino “Sonny” Corleone. I love the Godfather movies, but I would steer clear of giving a Corleone name to one of my children, for fear of jinxing the little kid. “Sonny” Carolla does roll easily off the tongue, but still, Sonny Corleone came to a really bad end. Carolla and his wife Lynette also welcomed daughter Natalia today - at least there is no ‘Natalia’ in the Godfather, as far as I recall.

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Actor and political activist Woody Harrelson, and wife Laura Louie, currently living in Hawaii, have given their newest daughter a traditional Hawaiian name: Makani. It means “the wind.” For a middle name, they chose Ravello, which is best known as a seaside town in Italy much favored by artists, musicians, and creative types. Hmm…wonder if Woody and Laura have ever been to Ravello…

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Posted on June 06th 2006 and posted to Woody Harrelson, CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(2)

The birth of Rachel Weisz’s son a few days ago gave rise to the usual speculation about what the baby’s name would be. Would Rachel, and fiance Darren Aronofsky, go with something simple, like Mira Sorvino did with little Johnny? Or would the new parents follow this year’s celebrity wave and try to come up with something really unusual, or really weird, or both?

 Now we know. They decided to hedge their bets, and do a little of both. So, for a first name they gave their newborn an ultra-traditional name: Henry. And for a middle name they chose one made famous by Peter Sellers in the movie Being There. That’s right, “Chance.” As in “Chance” the gardener. Rachel and Darren chose Henry Chance for their little bundle of joy. No word yet as to why they chose Chance. Maybe they just liked the movie. But I can hear the schoolyard teasing already: Fat Chance, No Chance, Last Chance… Maybe if Mom and Dad had a Second Chance to think about it, they’d Take A Chance on a name that had Less Chance of leaving poor little Henry Chance wide opinion to a lifetime of predictable teasing. Some Chance.

Photo by Photorazzi

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Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci, winner of five Olympic gold medals, and her husband, U.S. gymnast Bart Connor, also a gold medal winner, are the proud new parents of little Dylan Paul, born June 3, 2006. The Olympian couple,  who I might have expected to go for a sports-oriented name, actually picked Dylan in homage to legendary singer Bob Dylan. A nice name, and a refreshing change from some of the wackier names of recent weeks.

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Posted on June 05th 2006 and posted to Nadia Comaneci, CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(1)