Celebrity Baby Names: Learn Their Meanings

Credit:

Penelope

"Penelope doesn't have meaning for us. We just liked it!" says Kourtney Kardashian, who nicknamed her daughter with Scott Disick -- born July 8, 2012 -- Nelly. Her middle name, Scotland, was suggested by Kardashian's maternal grandmother, Mary Jo, to honor her Scottish ancestors and, of course, Disick.

Credit:

Elijah

Elton John and husband David Furnish chose a Biblical moniker for their second son, born via surrogate January 11, 2013 (big brother Zachary was born in 2010). Hebrew for "My God is Yahweh," it dates back to the ninth-century prophet. Says John, "I have always liked names that have resonated over hundreds of years."

Credit:

Noah

For their first child, a son born June 29, 2012, Josh Lucas and his writer wife Jessica Ciencin Henriquez chose Noah, a name derived from the Hebrew root meaning "to comfort." It's a link to a certain ark makes it an appropriate pick for the animal-rights activist actor.

Credit:

Luna

Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson may be a mouthful, but it's certainly memorable. Welcoming her first child with Arpad Busson in July 2012, Uma Thurman chose a lengthy name for her daughter out of necessity. "My daughter [Maya] came up with the best excuse, which was that I probably wouldn't get to have any more children, so I just put every name that I liked into [Luna's]," Thurman told Jimmy Fallon.

Credit:

Caspian

Choosing from a narrowed-down list of five names for her first child with boyfriend JJ Feild, Neve Campbell wanted her son's name be as unique as her own. "It's nice having something special and different and so I wanted something like that for our son. We decided that we'd wait and see and meet him and then decide," Campbell revealed on The Talk. "And when we were in the hospital when he was born, we realized we could only remember one and that was Caspian, so it seemed like it was right."

Credit:

Leo

Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford settled on a majestic moniker for their son, whom they welcomed August 10, 2012. Latin for "lion," the name the couple chose for their 8-pound firstborn was the 167th most popular for boys born in the U.S. in 2011.

Credit:

Milo

"Milo was named after his two grandfathers, Miller and Thomas," Alyssa Milano tweeted after giving birth to her son with husband David Bugliari in September 2011. "Two very important men in my life!"

Credit:

Olive

Drew Barrymore and Will Kopelman knew they were going to name their firstborn Olive six months before before her Sept. 26, 2012 arrival. "I never would have guessed that would have been the name. But I was reading a book with my husband, and I was three months pregnant. They said your baby is the size of an Olive and that was it," Barrymore said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "We never looked back."

Credit:

Camden

Kristin Cavallari's life has been filled with Hills and valleys. So for her first child, a son born August 8, 2012, the former reality star and her fiance, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, chose Camden, a name derived from Old English meaning "winding valley."

Credit:

Gloria

"We thought of her name when we were at this concert that Patti Smith played at . . . she played [a cover of Van Morrison's] 'Gloria,'" Maggie Gyllenhaal told Jimmy Fallon of the meaning behind her daughter's name. "It was a couple of years ago and we just thought, maybe we'll name our daughter that one day."

Credit:

India

"I always kind of liked Indie or Indiana for a boy, and she liked India. We sort of went, 'Oh well, whether it's a boy or girl, that will decide.' It just seemed to fit," Chris Hemsworth told E! News of the meaning behind the moniker he and his actress wife Elsa Pataky chose for their daughter, born in May 2012.

Credit:

Maxwell

Born in May 2012, Jessica Simpson's daughter's name pays tribute to dad Eric (Maxwell is his middle name) and her maternal grandmother, Tina, whose maiden name is Drew. "It's nothing shocking and nothing you'll have to add to the dictionary," Simpson -- expecting her second child -- hinted to ELLE of her baby's name prior to Maxwell's birth. "Still, when people hear it they'll know . . . why."

Credit:

Kash

Are Kim Zolciak and husband Kroy Biermann trying to keep up with the Kardashians? They chose the name Kash for their second son, born August 15, 2012. He joins big brother Kroy. (Zolciak also has Brielle and Ariana from a previous relationship.)

Credit:

Edward Duke

Though they call their son -- born in August 2012 -- by his middle name, Bill and Giuliana Rancic had a very particular reason to name him Edward: It's the shared first name of their fathers. His middle name was selected, mom says, because it means "leader."