15 Surprising Celebrity Godparents

When actress Jaime King had her first son, James, she named her friend Jessica Alba as the godmother — or as they called her, Nina. At the time, Jessica already had two children of her own, and she was likely such a valuable source of information and help for Jaime. Gotta have mom friends when you're new to the gig.

For Jaime's second son, Leo, she picked her close friend Taylor Swift to be the godmother. "It was really because of her morals and her values and the way that she treats people and how hardworking she is and her family and how close she is to them," Jaime reportedly said of why she picked Taylor for the important role.

Is there anything cooler than having Elton John as your dad? Yes, it's having Lady Gaga as your godmother. Elton chose the singer to be godmom to his sons, and he's always raved about how hands-on she is with them. "She comes whenever she can and visits the boys," he said. "She bathes them, she sings to them, she reads stories to them. She's the greatest godmother. She really cares."

Apparently the boys call her Gaga-mother, which is so cute.

Elton John is a godfather himself, having been chosen by David and Victoria Beckham to be around for their son Romeo. A few years ago, the former Spice Girl captured video of Romeo celebrating his 16th birthday dinner with Elton, who happily led the round of "Happy Birthday" singing. So iconic.

Romeo isn't the only Beckham with a famous godpparent. When David and Victoria's daughter, Harper, was baptized, they chose Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria to be her godmother. Eva and Harper are quite close, with Eva previously praising Harper for being a great babysitter for Eva's son, Santiago.

When legendary singer Dolly Parton played Hannah Montana's godmother on the Disney Channel show, it was a familiar role for her. That's because Dolly is Miley Cyrus' godmother in real life. "Dolly is not only my idol because of her incomparable career — she's also my role model because of her steadfast morals and values. At her core, she is the definition of a humanitarian," Miley wrote about Dolly for Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2021.

Prince William was just 16 when he became a godfather to Prince Constantine Alexios of Greece and Denmark. Was the teenage prince qualified to be a godfather at the time? Eh, maybe not, but he sure is now. Not only does William have three kids of his own, he has four godchildren. Really racking them up over there.

One of the perks of being famous is that you have famous friends to name as your child's godparents. That's what Blythe Danner and Bruce Paltrow did when they had their daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow. They named legendary director Steven Spielberg as Gwyneth's godfather. Imagine that. She was basically destined to go into acting with parents and godparents like hers.

In 2016, Billie Lourd lost both her mother, Carrie Fisher, and grandmother, Debbie Reynolds, within a few days of each other. That's unimaginably tough, but she fortunately still has one important mother figure in her life — her godmother, Meryl Streep. And if anyone can provide a warm sense of comfort in dark times, it's Meryl.

Jessica is the godmother of Donald Faison's daughter, Wilder Francis. If you're wondering how Jessica has a tie to the Scrubs star, you should know that it's really more that Jessica has a tie to Donald's wife, CaCee Cobb. CaCee used to be Jessica's assistant, and the two remained such good friends that the godmother role was kind of a given.

Jake Gyllenhaal's parents are both in the movie business — his mom is a screenwriter and director, and his dad is a director — so they were able to select a pretty famous actress as Jake's godmother. That's right, the iconic Halloween and Freaky Friday actress Jamie Lee Curtis is Jake's godmother. We love it.

Now Jake gets to take what he's learned from his own famous godparent and pass it down to his goddaughter. Jake is godfather to Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams' daughter, Matilda. Jake and Heath became close friends when they starred in Brokeback Mountain, and it's nice that even with Heath gone, Michelle and Matilda still have Jake.

Henry Winkler and Ron Howard were on Happy Days together, so when it came time for Ron to pick a godfather for his daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard, he picked the one and only Fonz. The two stayed close, and when Henry recently won an Emmy, Bryce was quick to cheer him on. "Always and forever an inspiration," she wrote on Twitter. "I love you, and you are the best godfather on the planet!"

Even before she was famous from Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kris Jenner had a ton of famous friends — from Faye Resnick and Nicole Brown Simpson to Kathie Lee Gifford. So when she had to pick a godmother for her daughters Kendall and Kylie, Kris had a lot of famous faces to choose from. She ended up selecting Kathie, who is still close with the Jenner sisters today.

Office alums BJ Novak and Mindy Kaling are such good friends that many have speculated he might be the father of her children. Mindy is choosing to keep that information private, but she has revealed that BJ is the godfather of both her daughter, Katherine, and son, Spencer. Mindy said BJ loves the role.

"When I said, you know, 'BJ, if something happens to me, it's not like I have a husband, like you have to just take the kids.' And he's like, 'Oh my God, don't tempt me," Mindy joked on Today.