After months of speculation, Ryan Reynolds has finally confirmed the name of his and wife Blake Lively’s baby girl. He told Willie Geist on the Today show that their daughter’s name is in fact James—and not Excalibur Anaconda or Butternut Summersquash (both are monikers that Reynolds joked belonged to the new arrival).
Lively gave birth back in early January and for a time their baby’s name was rumored to be Violet; Reynolds cleared up that error on The Late Show with David Letterman a few weeks ago. He said Violet “is a very pretty name, but that’s Ben Affleck’s daughter’s name.” The actor then said, “We’d never steal another celebrity’s baby’s name, so we went with Shiloh.”
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In his sit-down interview with Geist, Reynolds summed up the real reason for not coming right out with the name after she was born. “I didn’t want to be the first guy screaming it out to the media,” he said. “Because as we know, little girls turn into teenage girls and little teenage girls sometimes scan through the archives and go, ‘Why did you do that?'” It sounds like this new dad is already a pro!
Reynolds is also busy promoting his new film Woman in Gold, starring Helen Mirren and Katie Holmes, which comes out April 1.
Watch Ryan Reynolds talk to Willie Geist on Today about his daughter’s name:
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