This question of the week was inspired by a Berry who wrote in telling us of a friend whose daughter Imogen was called the unexpected Idgie. Wasn’t that, she asked, the cutest nickname ever?

Definitely! we agreed.  At least it’s one of them!

What’s the cutest nickname you’ve ever heard?  Maybe it’s one you came up with on your own, maybe it was invented by an older sibling or by your child himself.  It might have been by design, or it might have come about by accident.

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Popular baby names are the Number 1 topic of the week, but today we thought we’d turn the tables and ask instead about favorite baby names.  What are your personal Top 10 names for each gender?

The criteria: Those you love best, period.  Put them in order, with Number 1 your very favorite on down.   Or hey, if that’s too hard, just give us your ten best in any particular order.

And if you can’t come up with ten for each gender, then list as many as you can think of!

Whether or not your personal favorite baby names are favorites with anybody else doesn’t matter.  But if you’d like to add commentary on how popularity or family or your personal history factors into your decision, it would be very welcome.

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I walked into a Tribeca nail salon last weekend, killing time before a lunch date, and there getting a manicure was Gwyneth Paltrow.  And the adorable little girl quietly rearranging the nail polish colors?  None other than the infamous Apple.

Call me starstruck, but watching the tall (yes, very tall), gorgeous Gwyneth – who was wearing what seems to be the New York Yummy Mummy uniform du jour of black riding pants, black riding boots, and a baggy tee shirt — talk to her daughter, I thought: Apple is a really cute name.  A little quirky, maybe, but not deserving of all the ridicule that’s been heaped on it.  Cute.

So that got me thinking (I had a lot of time to think, while pretending not to be staring at Gwynnie) about other cute celebrity baby names.  Not bizarre celebrity baby names, not trendy celebrity baby names.  Just the cutest choices of recent years.

Here, my nominees:

ADELE GEORGIANA (Molly Ringwald)

APPLE BLYTHE ALISON (Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin)

BIRDIE LEIGH (Busy Phillips)

BRONWYN GOLDEN (Angela Bassett & Courtney B. Vance)

CALLUM LYON (Kyle MacLachlan)

CHARLIE TAMARA TULIP (Rebecca Romijn & Jerry O’Connell)

CLEMENTINE JANE (Ethan Hawke)

COCO TRINITY (Diane Farr)

DEXTER LLOYD (Charlotte Church)

DOLLY REBECCA ROSE (Rebecca Romijn & Jerry O’Connell)

DOMINO CARMEN (India Hicks)

DONOVAN RORY MacDONALD (Noel Gallagher)

EMME MARIBEL (Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony)

EVER GABO (Milla Jovovich & Paul Anderson)

EVERLY BEAR (Anthony Kledes)

FRANCES PEN (Amanda Peet)

HARLOW WINTER KATE (Nicole Richie & Joel Madden)

HENRY STORY (Minnie Driver)

KENZO LEE (Kimora Lee Simmons & Djimon Hounsou)

MABEL PAINTER (Chad Lowe)

NAHLA ARIELA (Halle Berry)

OTIS TOBIAS (Tobey Maguire & Jennifer Meyer)

PETAL BLOSSOM RAINBOW (Jamie Oliver)

SPARROW JAMES MIDNIGHT (Nicole Richie & Joel Madden)

SUNDAY ROSE (Nicole Kidman & Keith Urban)

SUNNY MADELINE (Adam Sandler)

SURI (Katie Holmes & Tom Cruise)

TALLULAH RUTH (Damon Dash)

VIGGO MORIAH (Taylor Hanson)

WILLIAM HUCKLEBERRY (Kimberly Williams & Brad Paisley)

Agree?  Disagree?  What would you add?

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