Name Guru to the Stars: Baby Names for Nicki Minaj and more!
The most notable celebrity to announce a pregnancy this month was Nicki Minaj. But what style is a Nicki Minaj baby name? It may not be as crazy as everyone is expecting.
Many of the rest of this month’s celebrities are naming younger siblings to their daughters, including David Henrie’s Pia, Teyana Taylor’s Junie, and Christina Perri’s Carmella. It was easy for me to pick out a shortlist for everyone, but the stars have the hard part — choosing just one.
But before we get to that, I want to tell you about a brand-new contest over on our Instagram! Pit your celebrity baby name prediction skills against mine for the chance to win big. Each week I’ll pick one celebrity couple from the column and you get to tell me your top choice for a girl and a boy (just make sure they’re different than mine!). If I don’t win, the first person who guessed the correct name gets $100. If no one made the right prediction, the pot gets bigger! Head on over to Instagram to play.
But first, here’s a sneak peek at the stars we’ll cover in upcoming weeks, along with my predictions for Nicki Minaj’s baby name and more:
Nicki Minaj and Kenneth “Zoo” Petty
Gender: unknown
Siblings: none
Nicki Minaj, born Onika Tanya Maraj, is famous for her alter egos, most notably Roman Zolanski. Some have wondered if she will use Roman as a name for a son, but I am not convinced — that name has already been claimed.
Nicki Minaj is her rapper personality, but not necessarily her mom personality. My guess is it will be Onika Maraj-Petty — the same identity she embodies as a wife. Would Nicki Minaj’s baby name be different from Onika Maraj-Petty’s baby name? Probably. Nicki may choose a wild-style, rapper-ish name like Diablo or Valor, but Onika could choose a warmer, more mainstream name — maybe Remi or Cassius. I’ve included options for both of them.
Girl: Diablo, Noelia, Izora, Karma, Monroe, Remi, Savvy, Trinidad, Ximenia, Zoya
Boy: Carlyle, Cassius, Epic, Kenneth, Kenai, Legacy, Solo, Valor, Wolf, Zephyr
Emma Roberts and Garrett Hedlund
Gender: unknown
Siblings: none
I’m bracing myself for a delayed name announcement — Emma Roberts hasn’t even publicly addressed her pregnancy yet. She and her partner Garrett Hedlund are allegedly expecting their first child together, and even if we don’t hear their baby name right away, I know it’s going to be worth the wait. Emma’s cousins have the ahead-of-their-time names Henry, Hazel, and Phinnaeus (Finn), and like her aunt Julia Roberts, I think Emma will choose very fashionable but uncommon names for her children. I picked names of various styles that I think might appeal to Emma and Garrett:
Girl: Arden, Hattie, Helena, Lorelei, Louisa, Margot, Simone, Sutton, Sylvia, Thea
Boy: Adler, Ash, Bastian, Dashiell, Everett, Jones, Reid, Rhodes, Royce, Wells
Kathryn and Josh Brolin
Gender: unknown
Siblings: Trevor, Eden (previous relationship), Westlyn Reign
Kathryn and Josh Brolin chose the uber-trendy Baby-Names”>invented name Westlyn — a combination of the hot “west” syllable and the feminizing suffix -lyn — for their almost-two-year-old daughter. It’s not the type of name typically chosen by movie stars, so I had a lot of fun stretching my prediction muscles and thinking of creative syllable combinations. My top choices, below:
Girl: Berkley, Blakely, Brynlee, Ember, Haisley, Loxley, Novalee, Sierra, Skylie, Wrenley
Boy: Brentley, Colson, Gatlin, Hayes, Hendrix, Jaxton, Knox, Maverick, Ryder, Wilder
Maria Cahill and David Henrie
Gender: boy
Siblings: Pia Philomena Francesca
Maria Cahill and David Henrie have a daughter named Pia Philomena Francesca, and now are expecting a baby boy. I love their pairing of a mini first name with two long middles — I’m hoping they’ll do it again for their son. Something like Nico Valentine Matthias or Luca Augustine Sebastian. But I’m not in the business of predicting middle names — for their son’s first name, my guess is a masculine Latinate name with two syllables or fewer.
Boy: Bruno, Cyrus, Enzo, Jasper, Leo, Luca, Magnus, Milo, Nico, Van
Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolo
Gender: girl
Siblings: Felicity
The Duggars have broken away from biblical names, but they still like their children to have names imbued with positive meaning. Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo named their oldest daughter Felicity, meaning “happy,” and are now expecting baby girl number two. I’d be thrilled if they used another modern virtue name like Reverie, although that might be a bit too out-there for them. My top picks are Clara (meaning “light”) and Evangeline (“bearer of good news”).
Girl: Audrey, Blythe, Celeste, Clara, Clementine, Esme, Evangeline, Isabelle, Reverie, Vera
Teyana Taylor and Iman Shumpert
Gender: girl
Siblings: Iman Tayla Shumpert Jr., “Junie”
Teyana Taylor and Iman Shumpert’s daughter is called Junie, but her full name isn’t June or Juniper or anything else you might expect. Junie comes from Junior, as in Iman Tayla Shumpert Jr. Junie is named after her father, although her middle name honors her mother. I’m wondering if Teyana and Iman will use another honor name for this daughter. I’d love for them to name her after Teyana and call her something like Minnie (mini — get it?) or Yana. Or maybe modernize the names of grandmas Nikki and L’Tanya as Nico and Tatiana.
Girl: Arya, Ashanti, Cali, Demi, Josie, Maya, Minnie, Nico, Tatiana, Yana
Christina Perri and Paul Costabile
Gender: unknown
Singer Christina Perri and her husband Paul Costabile both have Italian heritage, so it’s no surprise they gave their daughter an Italian name. However, I was delighted when it turned out to be Carmella — a rare and lovely Italian choice. Chances are Carmella’s brother or sister will also have an Italian name. I’m hoping it’s something similarly elaborate and charming — maybe Cosima or Giulietta for a girl, and Leandro or Santino for a boy.
Girl: Allegra, Aurelia, Cosima, Delfina, Domenica, Ginevra, Giulietta, Giovanna, Paloma, Ramona
Boy: Alessandro, Alessio, Eliseo, Francesco, Leandro, Luciano, Marco, Matteo, Nicolo, Santino
Sasha Pieterse and Hudson Sheaffer
Gender: unknown
Siblings: none
Actress and country singer Sasha Pieterse is expecting her first child this October — she and husband Hudson Sheaffer have not shared the baby’s gender. They’re already dog-parents to Great Danes Levi and Lady, which gives a clue that Sasha and Hudson may have some country-western style when it comes to baby names. Wyatt or Brooks seem like easy answers for a boy, while Savannah or Hadley could be right for a girl.
Girl: Callie, Hadley, Josie, Paisley, Pearl, Ruby, Sadie, Savannah, Sierra, Willa
Boy: August, Beau, Brooks, Calvin, Jude, Owen, Rhett, Sawyer, Silas, Wyatt
Think you’ve got better guesses for these celebrity baby names? Head over to our Instagram to pit your celebrity baby name prediction skills against the Celebrity Baby Name Guru’s for a chance to win $100 or much much more. See individual posts for rules and details.