Nick Kroll Picked A Baby Name As Big As The World For His Newborn Daughter
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Congratulations are in order to comedian and Big Mouth head-honcho Nick Kroll and his wife, Lily Kwong, who have welcomed another member into the family! The couple recently shared the news that their second baby was born late last month in a very sweet post that included their baby’s nature-inspired name.
On Instagram, Kwong celebrated the birth of her daughter, and wrote her a tribute: “Gaia Kwong Kroll, thank you for shining your light on us, you’ve brought so much joy and harmony to our little family already.”
The baby girl’s name, Gaia, is a gorgeous, unique name that is quite uncommon in the United States. According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Gaia has never been in the top 1000 most popular baby girl names at any point since the 1900s. It appears to have more international flair — according to Nameberry, it’s a popular name in Italy, landing in the 17th spot in 2021.
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The name Gaia has Greek origins, meaning “Earth mother,” Nameberry notes, and comes from the Greek spelling Gaea, which is rooted in mythology. In Greek mythology, Gaia is the “personification of the Earth as a goddess,” and she’s been described as “the giver of dreams and the nourisher of plants and young children,” per Britannica.
And while Gaia will likely be in a class of her own in kindergarten, the name follows popular naming conventions for girls over the past few years, including shorter girl names, names that have a lot of vowels, and names that are thematically related to nature, which are all having their moment.
Kwong and Kroll’s little girl joins her 2-year-old big brother, who also has a name inspired by nature — Leo! Leo is another nature-inspired name, a nod to the Lion, which is commonly attributed to traits like justice, might, courage, strength, and majesty, per the University of Michigan.
But, unlike Gaia, Leo is a baby boy name that’s still on the rise and very popular across the U.S. According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Leo was ranked as the 22nd most popular baby boy name, up from 9 spots in 2021 and up 112 spots from a decade ago.
Congrats to the Kwang-Kroll family, and welcome to the world, Gaia!