There are some celebrity kids’ names that are immediately embraced by other parents and become instant hits. Take Kingston, for example, the name chosen for personal reasons relating to the city in Jamaica by Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale: it had all the ingredients to make it a success– accessibility, likeability, a strong, familiar sound with regal overtones, plus extremely high-profile parents.

Another name with similar qualities is Maddox, the first son of Angelina Jolie, which first entered the popularity lists in 2003 and has been steadily climbing ever since. A few recent names—Honor (Warren), Clementine (Hawkes), Seraphina (Affleck), and Harlow (Madden) spring to mind—were direct hits, and seem sure to spread.

On the other side of the coin are those that were just as instantly rejected as too weird for everyday consumption: the Ikhyds, Banjos, Bandits, Pumas, Pirates and Peanuts.

Some names that were greeted at first as too audacious have now become accepted. Romeo, second son of Victoria and David Beckham, had been considered too melodramatically Shakespearean until it became associated with a cute blonde crew cut and a British accent. The name of Romeo’s brother Brooklyn also produced a few guffaws when it was announced—but then other parents started to separate the two syllables into Brook and Lyn, gradually cancelling out the New-York-accented borough association and transforming it into a pretty name for a girl: now Brooklyn ranks in the Top 50 of girls’ names. That other New York borough name, Bronx, however, got an instant thumbs down.

Of course a lot of it is about exposure. The fabulous name of the kid of some C-list actress who has never once been seen in the pages of People or viewed on Access Hollywood probably isn’t gonna make it.

On the other hand, names that are paraded before the public daily, like Kelly Ripa’s Lola and Joaquin can’t help but be noticed and emulated. Teri Hatcher named her daughter Emerson in 1997, but it wasn’t until Hatcher hit it big with Desperate Housewives that the name really took off—as has her co-star Marcia Cross’s much-photographed twin’s Eden.

So which names have definitely been given a celebritized bounce? The leader of the pack is—hands down—Ava, used by no fewer than a dozen stars, most notably Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe in 1999, and which is now the fifth most popular name in America.

Some others that have been boosted by a celebrity connection are:

AVERY for girls

BECKETT

CRUZ

EDEN

EMERSON

FINLEY for girls

HARPER for girls

JADEN

JOAQUIN

KINGSTON

LOLA

MADDOX

MILO

PAX

ROMEO

RYDER

SHILOH

VIOLET

ZAHARA

There ‘s also a more recent contingent of starbaby names that seem to have the potential for becoming more widely accepted, including:

ALICE

ANNISTON

ASHBY

BECKETT

CLEMENTINE

DASHIELL

HARLOW

HONOR

KENZO

MAGNUS

MATILDA

ROMY

TRUE

VIVIENNE

At last! Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck have finally announced the name of their newborn daughter: Seraphina Rose Elizabeth.

Seraphina’s name, which means fiery or ardent in Hebrew, comes from the Seraphim, the high order of six-winged angels. Spelled Serafina in Spanish and Italian, this elaborately feminine name is in step with the Isabellas and Gabriellas so popular today, yet is far more distinctive.

Jen and Ben have proven their baby naming know-how with this gorgeous choice, a great match for Violet, and it’s sure to rise up the popularity list along with that of her big sister.  Much more unusual than Violet, Seraphina hasn’t ever appeared in the Top 1000 of the Social Security list in the past century.

Rose is the middle name du jour, a flower name match for Violet.  And, like many young Americans following the British tradition, the couple has chosen two middle names (although some people have already expressed the objection that it wasn’t fair for this baby to get one more than her big sister).

Seraphina hasn’t appeared much in popular culture references, though a couple of its variations have.  With the Latin  Serafina spelling, it was the name of the passionate heroine of Tennessee Williams The Rose Tattoo, and just last year it was a  character played by Eva Green in The Golden Compass.  It’s also reminiscent of Sarafina, the South African hit musical that played on Broadway in the 90s.

What do we think of Seraphina?  Let’s just say that we picked it as one of the Authors’ Favorites recommendations in The Baby Name Bible.

But do we have a winner in the Guess the Jennifer Garner Baby Name contest? Not a single one of the hundreds of entries picked Seraphina, though a lot of people did guess the middle name Rose.

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck welcomed their second little girl yesterday, joining big sister Violet Anne. Since the new Jennifer Garner baby name has not been announced, and as Violet’s name has been so influential, we thought it would be fun to do a quick nameberry poll trying to guess the new baby’s name.

Violet’s name can lead in several different directions. Using Violet as a starting point, do you think the new Jennifer Garner baby name will be:

A GENTLY OLD-FASHIONED NAME– An old-fashioned name like Beatrice or Eliza would go perfectly with Violet.

A FLOWER NAME — A lot of starbaby watchers are guessing the new baby will have another flower name, such as Iris or Daisy.

A HIPSTER NAME — Violet definitely has hipster cred, and her little sister might be Annabel, Matilda, or June.

A SWEET NAME — Violet’s little sister might very sweetly be Grace or Willow.

A COLOR NAME — Violet is a color as well as a flower, so might the new Jennifer Garner baby be named Scarlett? Ruby? Turquoise?

What do you think? Vote here! And leave your best guess for the actual name. The first person who hits it on the nose (assuming there’s more than one) will get an advance copy of our upcoming book, Cool Irish Names for Babies!