2022 is quickly drawing to a close, which makes it the ideal time to start looking back at the year that was in pop culture and celebrity gossip. One of our favorite topics of celebrity news is always babies, and there was a bumper crop of famous new babies born in 2022. We, of course, always celebrate the birth of every child as a piece of good news, but that doesn't mean that we don't also look forward to passing a little bit of judgment on the baby name choices of some of our favorite stars!
There are a few things more subjective than deciding which names are "best" and which are "worst." Some people love names that are total classics, some like names that are modern and unisex, some want names that are unique and edgy. We get that, and we totally support diversity in naming (and we especially love a name that recognizes family history or heritage). But we also think there are some names that are just weird for the sake of being weird (yes, we are talking about No. 5 on our list here).
We've rounded up some of the most noteworthy celebrity baby names of 2022, and we're not shy about which ones get the best and worst labels. Read on to see if we got it right or wrong for the 2022 crew of celebrity babies.
Bronze Mahomes
We're going to start with a name that manages to be both a best and a worst name. NFL star Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, named their newborn son Patrick "Bronze" Lavon Mahomes III. Patrick is a great, classic first name choice, but we're not sure why an athlete would choose to give his son a second name that is a synonym for coming in third place?
Pixie Rose Costabile
In October, singer Christina Perri welcomed her daughter Pixie Rose, who she described as her "magical double rainbow baby girl" after enduring heartbreaking pregnancy losses. A rainbow baby is always a cause for celebration, but we aren't quite as quick to celebrate the name. Pixie is one of those names that is cute for a little girl but might not age well and can sound a little immature for an adult.
James Eugene Outerbridge
Schitt's Creek star Sarah Levy (she played the sweet waitress Twyla) is the daughter of comic legend Eugene Levy. She welcomed her first child this year and gave him the timeless name James along with a middle name that pays tribute to her dad. We love the combo of classic name plus family honor name. Now we'll just have to wait to see if little James inherited the famous Eugene Levy eyebrows!
Ilaria Baldwin
Hilaria and Alec Baldwin welcomed their seventh child this year, a little girl named Ilaria Catalina Irena Baldwin. While we love the middle name Catalina (so sophisticated!), we're not convinced that it won't be confusing to have both a Hilaria and an Ilaria with the same last name in the same household.
Malibu Barbie Paytas-Hacmon
Why? Why would anyone name their sweet, innocent, never-asked-for-any-of-this baby girl Malibu Barbie? That is the objectively terrible name that YouTube star Trisha Paytas and her husband, Moses Hacmon, chose in Septmember and that their daughter will be having to deal with the rest of her life. Poor kid.
Arlo Cook
We love the name Arlo. It's the perfect mix of not too common but also classic and modern. Actress Julia Stiles and her husband, Peter Cook, announced the birth of son Arlo in January 2022, making them a family of four. The couple also have a 5-year-old named Strummer (which is not a name we love, to be honest).
Malti Marie Chopra Jonas
Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra's daughter, Malti Marie, is a NICU warrior who spent more than 100 days in the hospital before coming home with her proud parents. We love that her name is a double honor name — Malti (which is an Indian floral name) is after Priyanka's mother, Madhu Malti, and Marie comes from Nick's mom, Denise Marie.
Isabella James Statham
Actress and model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and actor Jason Statham went both classic and modern with their second child's name. Daughter Isabella James was born on 2/2/22 and continues the couple's trend of going with classic names, as they already have a 4-year-old son called Jack.
Roman & Malachi Ervin
With a twin pregnancy, there are two chances to get the names right or wrong. Model Ashley Graham got it right in our opinion with the names Malachi and Roman. Both are distinctive and interesting and will serve the boys well as they grow up, while also making it unlikely that they'll have lots of other kids with the same name in school.
Beautiful Zeppelin Cannon
With 11 kids (so far!) and a tendency toward unusual name choices, it is hard to imagine a worst baby name roundup that doesn't feature Nick Cannon. His newest baby is a little girl named Beautiful Zeppelin. Yes, Zeppelin, the old-timey airship most known for exploding. Yeah, not a fan!
Onyx Ice Cole Cannon
To be fair to Nick Cannon and at least one of his baby mamas, the name Onyx Ice is pretty cool (Ha! See what we did there?). This name isn't for everyone, but it's a striking and strong choice for people looking for a unique, nature-inspired name.
Eloise Christina Schwarzenegger Pratt
Chris Pratt and wife Katherine Schwarzenegger celebrated the birth of their second child in May 2022. Their daughter's name is a nod to the classic children's book character Eloise, and we are always a sucker for names with literary connections.
Ryver Rhodes Kennedy
E! News reporter Jason Kennedy and his wife, Lauren, had their first child in April 2022 and fell victim to the naming trend of putting a "y" where a perfectly good "i" should go. River is a fine name, so why sentence the kid to a lifetime of explaining, "No, not with an i, with a y" to people?
Grace Ethiopia Samuelsson
Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson has always found ways to blend together his Swedish and Ethiopian cultures in his cooking life, so we love that he also found a way to give a nod to his heritage in his daughter's name. Baby Grace Ethiopia was born in January 2022 and she's as cute as can be!
Mystery Name Kardashian
The worst kind of baby name? THE ONE WE DON'T KNOW! Both Khloé Kardashian and Kylie Jenner have been playing it coy with both pictures of their new sons and their names (which is extra weird since they are super comfortable sharing lots of images of their daughters), so we still don't know what Khloé named her August baby. She was said to be considering "T" names, so we're going to start a rumor that the name is something truly terrible like Toenail Tonsil Thompson and hope she spills the truth soon.
As for Kylie, we're still waiting to find out her son's new name after the makeup mogul said her original choice of Wolf just didn't feel right.
