Jessica Simpson gave birth to a healthy 9 pound baby girl named Maxwell Drew Johnson. That’s not a typo—her baby is a girl, and her name is Maxwell. And as if her child needed more gender confusion throughout her life, her middle name is Drew, which means ‘manly.’ From Heidi Klum’s daughter Lou to Jon Heder’s daughter Evan, The Daily Beast rounds up more celebrities’ kids that will forever be associated with a different gender.
The eternally pregnant Jessica Simpson finally gave birth on Tuesday to a healthy baby girl named Maxwell Drew. The name Maxwell, usually associated with boys, means “great steam” but the middle name Drew is what is really gender-defying: it means “manly.” Drew is also Simpson’s mother’s maiden name. The name already caused a storm on Twitter, with a few tweets in support of the different name and many tweets asking “isn’t Maxwell a boy’s name?” At least she dispelled the controversy over her weight gain: baby Maxwell weighed nine pounds, 13 ounces.
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This week, Heidi Klum gave birth to a daughter she and Seal named Lou Sulola Samuel. "She is beautiful beyond words and we are happy that she chose us to watch her grow over the coming years,” said the German-born supermodel and singer. Little Lou is Klum’s fourth child, and although it’s still unclear where the unique moniker came from, her name wasn’t the first time the couple ditched the classic baby name book—Klum’s other children are named Leni, Henri, and Johan.
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ER’s former favorite young doctor and his wife, makeup artist Tracy Warbin, named their daughter Auden Wyle in 2005. Her unique name was inspired by poet W.H. Auden. She fits right in with her artistic family—Noah’s parents founded the Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum and he studied theater in college.
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Designer Stella McCartney was named after both of her great-grandmothers, but decided to branch out from the family tree—but only slightly—when it came time to name her children. Her second child, a daughter with British publisher Alasdhair Willis, is named Bailey Linda Olwyn Willis. Her middle name, of course, comes from Stella’s late mother, Linda McCartney.
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ABC newsman George Stephanopoulos has twice given his daughters slightly androgynous names. He and his wife, Ali Wentworth, have one daughter named Harper Andrea, and another named Elliott Anastasia, whose name comes from Wentworth’s grandmother, explorer Janet Elliott Wulsin.
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Did anyone think Napoleon Dynamite was mature enough to have a child? Nevertheless, Jon Heder and his wife, Kirsten, had a girl named Evan Jane Heder in 2007. Heder took a chance that strangers would be confused about his daughter’s name—Evan is so predominantly used for males it’s been listed in the top 100 most popular boys’ names for the last 20 years.
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Kelsey Grammer and his first wife named their daughter Spencer Grammer. Now 26, and one of the stars of the ABC Family series Greek, Spencer has said, “I think I really wanted to be an actress because I thought more girls should be named Spencer and that people would finally stop making fun of my name.” Her famous father named her after his best friend from high school, and her middle name comes from the memory of her father’s sister. Grammer’s other daughter is named Mason Olivia—perhaps it’s some sort of reverse payback by their father for his own feminine first name?
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Frasier’s favorite nanny, Jane Leeves, and her husband, Marshall Coben, gave their son the genderless name of Finn William Leeves Coben in 2003. It’s still unclear if his name comes from Mark Twain’s famous protagonist, and Leeves played it safe the first time around by naming her daughter Isabella.
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The day after Tiger Woods tied for second in the 2007 U.S. Open, his wife, former Swedish model Elin Nordegren, gave birth to their daughter, whom they named Sam Alexis Woods. She was actually named, in a strange way, after her father. Woods said, “We wanted to have a name that would be meaningful. My father had always called me Sam since the day I was born. He rarely ever called me Tiger.”
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In 2005, Grammy Award-winning singer Michelle Branch and husband Teddy Landau had a baby girl they named Owen Isabelle. Apparently, the couple believed they were having a baby boy, and already had the name picked out, but were surprised by their young daughter. The 26-year-old singer said, "Once we found out we were having a girl, we were still in love with the name Owen…we gave her a very feminine middle name—Isabelle—so if she hates it she can switch to Isabelle."
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Jennie Garth and husband Peter Facinelli opted to give their first daughter the traditionally masculine name Luca. The 90210 and Can't Hardly Wait stars gave their child a name that means “light,” but have yet to shed any on their gender-opposing choice. Garth and Facinelli have since had two more daughters, bestowing them with the ultra-feminine names Lola and Fiona.
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It'd be hard enough being Miley's younger sister, but 9-year-old Noah Cyrus has to deal with a confusing name as well. The youngest daughter of famed ‘90s country heartthrob Billy Ray Cyrus and wife, Tish, is also an aspiring actress and singer, recently lending her voice to the starring role in the anime film Ponyo. Though it's unclear why Noah was given her name, considering her famous sister's moniker and brothers' name Braison and Trace, perhaps no explanation is needed.
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Sylvester Stallone and his first wife Sasha Ash certainly had an affinity for the letter "S." Stallone named his children Sistine, Sophia, Scarlet, Seargeoh and the gender-bending Sage, Stallone's now 33-year-old son. Sage made his debut as his father's offspring in Rocky V and went on to become an actor, director, and co-founder of Grindhouse Releasing, a company that digitally re-masters cult films.
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