Celebrity Baby Names: The Best of 2009

This year was notable by a swell of great celebrity baby names, far outweighing the quirky, strange, and downright bad.
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This year was notable by a swell of great celebrity baby names, far outweighing the quirky, strange, and downright bad.

What were the very best? According to a Nameberry poll of nearly 700 people, the winners are:

Seraphina Rose Elizabeth, name of the second daughter of Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck, for girls.

And for boys, Jasper Warren, second son of Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Brad Paisley.

Here's how the Nameberry voters ranked the best celebrity baby names.

Seraphina Rose Elizabeth was chosen as the Best Celebrity Girls' Name by 45 percent of the voters. The angelic name was a surprise choice after more than a week of waiting for the high-profile couple to announce the name. Jennifer and Ben set a trend with their first daughter's name, Violet, and Seraphina seems poised to follow suit.

Helena Grace, name of the newborn daughter of Gossip Girl's Kelly Rutherford, was chosen number two by 18 percent of the Nameberry voters. A Shakespearean favorite that is a spin on the Greek classic, Helena is just beginning to emerge after decades in the attic.

Runners up for Best Girls' Name were:

Mabel Painter - Chad Lowe's little girl's name is a charming, quirky vintage choice, with an original artistic middle name that is mom's surname.

Paloma Louise - Ana Ortiz chose this exotic-yet-familiar name for her daughter, with the original Louise, tres chic in Paris, in the middle.

Phoebe Margaret - Phoebe is a mythological and biblical name that's newly finding favor, chosen for her newborn daughter by Julianne Nicholson.

The Best Celebrity Baby Boys' Name was Jasper Warren, chosen by 40 percent of the 700 voters. The gently old-fashioned Jasper is the choice of actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley and country singer Brad Paisley; Warren in the middle is another long-ignored choice due for revival.

Walker Nathaniel ranked second, the favorite of 28 percent of the voters. Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs chose this occupational surname name with the Biblical Nathaniel in the middle.

Runners up for Boys' Best Name were:

Otis Tobias - The bluesy Otis is an offbeat choice of Tobey Maguire and Jennifer Meyer, whose older child has the equally distinctive name of Ruby Sweetheart.

Beckett Edward - Nicole Sullivan chose the surname-first Beckett, a new celebrity favorite, for her son, with Twilight hottie Edward in middle place.

Blaise Ray - Blaise is the fiery old saint's name revived by Amanda Beard for her son, with jazz favorite Ray in the middle.

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