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Celebrity Baby Word Names

Sophie Kihm
By Sophie Kihm
Updated Sat Dec 16 2023
Celebrity Baby Word Names

Gwyneth Paltrow's Apple may still be the most famous case, but these days she's far from the only celebrity offspring with a word name. Today, there are enough celebrity baby names that are also words that we can fill a whole long list with them.

The Kardashians particularly love word names and can be credited with the success of Dream, Saint, True, and Psalm, among others.

Along with Dream and Saint, other celebrity baby word names in the US Top 1000 include Bear, Ember, Haven, Lyric, Major, Reign, Seven, and Winter. Among the most novel choices of recent years are Ice, Chapel, Rumble, and Powerful.

In their ever-widening search for new and unique names, celebrities are turning to words that relate to nature, spirituality, animals, places, weather, colors, even numbers. Bonus: many of these, by virtue of being new and unconventional, count as truly unisex baby names.

Here, word names that have been used in recent years for celebrity babies, ordered by their current popularity on Nameberry.

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Celebrity Baby Names

Word Names

  1. Ivy

    • Origin:

      Botanical name

    • Description:

      The quirky, offbeat and energetic botanical name Ivy is enjoying a deserved revival, propelled even higher by its choice by high-profile parents Beyonce and Jay-Z for daughter Blue Ivy. Ivy is also traditionally used at Christmas, make this one of the perfect names for December babies.
  2. Atlas

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "bearer of the heavens"

    • Description:

      Atlas is one of those names that was previously thought too powerful for a baby boy, who would have to be strong enough to carry the world on his shoulders. Now Atlas has joined the pantheon of Greek and Roman god and goddess names in the realm of possibility, along with Mars, Zeus and Apollo.
  3. Zephyr

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "west wind"

    • Description:

      If you're looking for a name that's light and breezy, this could be it. A name from mythology: Zephyrus/Zephyr was the Greek god of the west wind, and with its similarity in sound to the likes of Stefan or Seth, its zippy Z initial and cool Y, it is primed to rise up the US charts.
  4. River

    • Origin:

      Nature name

    • Description:

      River shares the tranquil feeling of all the water names, and seems to have pretty much escaped its past strong association with River Phoenix and his unfortunate fate. Actor Joaquin Phoenix named his son with actress Rooney Mara after his brother River.
  5. Clover

    • Origin:

      Flower name, from Old English

    • Meaning:

      "key"

    • Description:

      Clover is a charming, perky choice if you want to move beyond hothouse blooms like Rose and Lily, and it's recently become a new celeb favorite, chosen by both Neal McDonough and Natasha Gregson Wagner, who used it to honor her mother, Natalie Wood, one of whose most iconic films was Inside Daisy Clover.
  6. Sage

    • Origin:

      Herb name, Latin

    • Meaning:

      "wise and knowing"

    • Description:

      Sage is an evocatively fragrant herbal name that also connotes wisdom, giving it a double advantage. It entered the Top 1000 at about the same time for both genders in the early 1990s, but it has pulled ahead for the girls. Toni Collette named her daughter Sage Florence.
  7. Magnolia

    • Origin:

      Flower name, from French surname

    • Meaning:

      "Magnol's flower"

    • Description:

      Magnolia, a sweet-smelling Southern belle of a name made famous via the iconic Edna Ferber novel and musical Showboat, is one of the latest wave of botanical names, along with unexpected blossoms Azalea and Zinnia. It is named for French botanist Pierre Magnol.
  8. Shepherd

    • Origin:

      Occupational name

    • Meaning:

      "sheep hearder"

    • Description:

      Shepherd is an occupational surname with a pleasant pastoral feel. It was chosen for their son by the Jerry Seinfelds, which might inspire others to follow their lead.
  9. Loyal

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "faithful, loyal"

    • Description:

      Loyal is one of the few virtue names suitable for boys, an honorable and principled Boy Scout-esque appellation with a surprisingly long and distinguished history.
  10. Pearl

    • Origin:

      Latin gem name

    • Meaning:

      "pearl"

    • Description:

      Pearl, like Ruby, has begun to be polished up for a new generation of fashionable children after a century of jewelry box storage. The birthstone for the month of June, Pearl could also make a fresher middle name alternative to the overused Rose. Cool couple Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson named their daughter Pearl Minnie, followed by Jack Osbourne picking Pearl Clementine. Several celebs have put it in the middle spot, as in Busy Philipps's Cricket Pearl, Jake Owen's Olive Pearl and Caleb Followill's Dixie Pearl .
  11. Cash

    • Origin:

      Word name; also diminutive of Cassius

    • Meaning:

      "hollow"

    • Description:

      With the popular 'ash' sound and a contemporary feel, Cash is a widely used name in the US. Used occasionally before the 2000s, Cash really took off in 2003, following the death of American musical legend, Johnny Cash.
  12. Phoenix

    • Origin:

      Arizona place-name and Greek

    • Meaning:

      "dark red"

    • Description:

      Effortlessly cool with a hint of the mystical, Phoenix rolls a lot of trends into one: it's a place-name and a bird name, it ends in the stylish letter x, it's got in-built nicknames, and it's unisex too. Familiar but not over-popular, Phoenix ranks in the US and UK Top 1000s.
  13. Bear

    • Origin:

      Animal name

    • Meaning:

      "bear"

    • Description:

      Bear has suddenly lumbered onto the baby name landscape. Perhaps inspired by British adventurer Bear Grylls (born Edward Michael), first celebrity chef Jamie Oliver used it as the middle name for his boy Buddy, and Alicia Silverstone called her son Bear Blu, followed by Kate Winslet's Bear Blaize.
  14. Valentine

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "strength, health"

    • Description:

      Valentine is an attractive Shakespearean name with romantic associations, but those very ties to the saint and the sentimental holiday have sent it into a decline, one which we think may be about to turn around.
  15. Summer

    • Origin:

      Word name

    • Description:

      The temperature is definitely rising for this popular seasonal name, which began being used in the seventies, and has been heard consistently ever since.
  16. Birdie

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "bird"

    • Description:

      Birdie was until recently a middle-aged Ladies' Club member wearing a bird-decorated hat --but now it's just the kind of vintage nickname (think Hattie, Josie, Mamie, Millie) that's coming back into style in a big way. Actress Busy Philipps named her baby Birdie (inspired by First Lady Lady Bird Johnson), as did soap star Maura West.
  17. Onyx

    • Origin:

      Word name

    • Meaning:

      "gem stone; claw, nail"

    • Description:

      Unlike Pearl and Ruby and more like Jasper, this gem name works well as a boys name. With its strong final X, it feels similar to Alex, Phoenix, Jax, and Rex, while the shiny black quality of the stone feels reminiscent of Orion. Chosen by musician Iggy Azalea for her son in 2020, it has accelerated up the charts and now sits just outside the Top 300.
  18. Faith

    • Origin:

      Virtue name

    • Description:

      Faith is one of the most straightforward of the virtue names popularized by the Puritans in the seventeenth century, many parents still choosing it as an indicator of their religious conviction. Faith peaked in 2002 at Number 48.
  19. Ember

    • Origin:

      Word name, English from French

    • Meaning:

      "ember"

    • Description:

      Unlike Amber, which is in decline, this name still has a bit of a glow left — though confusions between the two will inevitably arise.
  20. Dream

    • Origin:

      Word name, English from German

    • Meaning:

      "cherished ambition or hope; thoughts and images experienced during sleep; ideal"

    • Description:

      A whimsical and serene feeling word name, bestowed to reflect the joy and perfection parents might find in their children and the ambitions they have for them. Once a fantastical and celebrity-only feeling option, Dream came into popular usage after Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna chose it for their daughter in 2016.

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