Billy Ray Cyrus and Destiny Hope ‘Miley’ Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) are in the news a lot these days, so it seemed like a good time to look at that name: Destiny Hope ‘Miley’ Cyrus. How does anyone come up with a mouthful like that?

Actually, the explanation is quite simple, and it says something about the power of names as destiny.

Cyrus and his wife Leticia named their newborn daughter Destiny Hope because they felt she was destined for great things. Boy, were they right, at least so far.

‘Miley,’ as most people are now aware, is a pet form of the name ‘Smiley,’ which is what the Cyrus’s began calling their destined-for-greatness daughter at an early age. The reason, of course, is that little Destiny Hope was always smiling.

Perhaps she had glimpsed the future, and was just practicing for the cameras.

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Posted on June 29th 2007 and posted to Billy Ray Cyrus,Miley Cyrus,NAME OF THE DAY | Comments(10)

Nancy Grace, 47, CNN’s tough-talking criminal justice spokeswoman, and former host of Court T.V.’s Closing Arguments, is expecting twins around the end of the year.

Grace secretly married investment banker David Linch in April, only informing her family a couple of days prior to the ceremony in Macon, Georgia.

Grace declined to say if she had received fertility treatment in order to become pregnant at age 47.

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Posted on June 28th 2007 and posted to CELEBRITY BABIES,CELEBRITY PREGNANCY | Comments(1)

Having, by their own admission, said everything possible about Paris Hilton, and more, US Weekly turns it attention this week to celebrity babies.

US is running a poll to see which celeb baby is the luckiest of them all, based on which superstar parents they have. The contestants are Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, Suri Cruise, Sean Federline, and Violet Affleck.

Is this for real? It’s Sean Federline of course, hands down. Not even a fair contest!

Seriously, while US Weekly readers ponder which baby is the luckiest, I want to see which celebrity baby name you think is the coolest! You’ll find the poll on the left of your screen.

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Posted on June 27th 2007 and posted to CELEBRITY BABIES,CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(0)

Our weeklong poll about your favorite Julia Roberts’ baby name is over, and the winner, by a whisker, is Hazel. She came in just ahead of newborn Henry, garnering 59 votes to 52 for Henry. I’m a little surprised — I thought the classic “Henry” was going to sweep that poll.

What’s not surprising is that Roberts’ third baby name – her son’s, Phinnaeus - didn’t appeal to many of you.. Only 25 poll participants – a mere 18% - voted for Phinny.

I don’t think we’ll be seeing many Phinnaeus’s in the future, either on a celebrity baby names list or in the broad population.

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Posted on June 26th 2007 and posted to CELEBRITY BABY NAMES,Julia Roberts | Comments(0)

If you can believe everything you read in Seattle’s The Stranger, which bills itself as Seattle’s only newspaper, then local resident Dave Matthews, of the Dave Matthews Band, is a father again.

According to The Stranger, Dave Matthews shared his exciting news as he struggled to open a door to the wrong car, with four coffees in a tray adding to his difficulty. As a neighborhood Good Samaritan came to help the befuddled Matthews, the rock star yelled “I’ve just had a baby! It’s a boy!”

Well, that’s how rumors get started. It’s no secret that Matthews, and his wife Ashley, are expecting their third child. But there is no official word yet whether the baby is here, and if so, just what he or she is called. No news has appeared on the Dave Matthews Band website.

But we do know that Matthews will be headlining at Farm Aid 2007 in New York on September 9, along with Neil Young, John Mellencamp, and Willie Nelson.

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Posted on June 25th 2007 and posted to Dave Matthews | Comments(0)

 UPDATE: June 25, 2007. Melanie Brown’s rep has confirmed to People Magazine that Eddie Murphy is the father of two-month old Angel. This is the first official word on the subject from the Brown camp.

Angel Iris Murphy Brown, two-month old daughter of former Spice Girl Melanie Brown, can finally call Eddie Murphy “Daddy.”  Well, she can in a few months, anyway.

That’s according to a source close to Mel B., reported in People earlier today.

It’s no surprise. Eighty percent of our readers, in a poll conducted in April, thought Murphy was the papa, despite his denial and general silence on the issue.

Liza Anderson, rep for the former “Scary” Spice, told People that Brown received the offical DNA test results on Thursday afternoon, and an unnamed source said that “the baby is undoubtedly, 110 percent his.”

Still no comment from the comedian, who was recently ordered by a British court to provide the DNA sample.

Brown gave birth to Angel Iris (originally mistakenly referred to by many as Fortuna Daphne) on April 3, and has contended from day one that Murphy is the father. Murphy is currently dating music producer Tracey Edmonds, pictured with him here.

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Posted on June 22nd 2007 and posted to CELEBRITY BABIES,Eddie Murphy,Melanie Brown | Comments(0)

It was a toss-up whether to pick Poppy Honey, the name of Jamie Oliver’s eldest daughter, or Daisy Boo, the name of his youngest, as celebrity baby name of the day. In the end, Poppy Honey won out, largely because of the culinary part of her name.

Wildly popular in his native Britain, Jamie Oliver, also known as The Naked Chef, and his wife Juliette Norton, were unlikely to give their offspring anything but unusual, cute names. A natural promoter, Oliver has rightly won recognition (in the form of a 2003 Member of the British Empire appointment by H.M. Queen Elizabeth), in part for his work on behalf of banning junk food from British schools.

Oliver has also created a chain of restaurants called Fifteen, now open in London, Amsterdam, Cornwall, and Melbourne, which provide jobs to disadvantaged youth.

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Posted on June 22nd 2007 and posted to NAME OF THE DAY | Comments(0)

Jeff Gordon, four time NASCAR champion, and his Belgian-born wife, actress/model Ingrid Vandebosch, welcomed a baby girl on June 20 in New York. Named Ella Sofia, she weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce, and measured 20 inches at birth. She is the first child for the couple, who married last November.

Gordon and Vandebosch posted a message on Gordon’s website announcing the birth.

On the pink-bordered annoucement card, decorated with rattles, hearts, bottles and booties, the Gordons first gushed joyfully about their new arrival. Then the card states:

“The four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion will travel to Northern California later this week and is scheduled to participate in all on-track activities at Infineon Raceway, site of this weekend’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race.”

Looks like Ella Sofia will have to get used to sharing the spotlight with Daddy. I think there’s a Jeff Gordon lunch box in her future.

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Posted on June 21st 2007 and posted to CELEBRITY BABIES,CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(12)

Keri Russell, the Golden-Globe winning actress and star of the WB Network series Felicity, gave birth to her first child, a son, on June 9 in New York City. The new baby is named River.

Russell, and her husband Shane Deary, a carpenter, married on Valentine’s Day this year.

In addition to Felicity, for which she won her Golden Globe, Russell also appeared in Mission Impossible III with Tom Cruise, and is currently starring in the hit indy film Waitress.

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Posted on June 20th 2007 and posted to CELEBRITY BABIES,CELEBRITY BABY NAMES,Keri Russell | Comments(0)

Kevin James, star of the Emmy-nominated CBS comedy series The King of Queens, and his wife, model Steffiana De La Cruz, welcomed their second child on June 14. Their new baby, a girl, is named Shea Joelle.

James, 42, and De La Cruz, 32, met on a blind date about five years ago. They married in June, 2004.

Baby Shea joins big sister Sienna-Marie, born September, 2005, at home in Los Angeles. 

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Posted on June 20th 2007 and posted to CELEBRITY BABIES,CELEBRITY BABY NAMES | Comments(1)