Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz announced the arrival of their baby boy by posting a photo on her Instagram page, which showed his little footprints, his weight (6 pounds, 5 ounces) and his Biblically inspired baby name — Genesis Ali Dean.
Alicia Keys baby
The name Genesis is a Biblical baby name that means "beginning." The name is a unique choice for boys, as it hasn't ranked in the top 1,000 for over 10 years on the Social Security Administration's list of the top boy names. His middle name, Ali, is a name of Muslim origin that means "excellent" or "noble."
Genesis has been steadily increasing in popularity for girls, however, and is currently ranked as the 55th most popular name. How to Get Away with Murder star Viola Davis actually has a daughter named Genesis.
Keys and Beatz are fond of unique names, as they named their 4-year-old son Egypt. Beatz has three children named Nicole, Prince Nasir and Kasseem from previous relationships.
Although the singer hasn't yet revealed her specific reason for naming her son Genesis, she did open up as to why she picked the name Egypt.
"I took an important trip for myself to Egypt. There were a lot of things that needed to change. I was not as experienced then, so I felt close to a breakdown. I went to Egypt, and I went alone. I sailed down the Nile and I saw the temples, the tombs and the pyramids. It was powerful. It was very Cleopatra," she said. "When we found out I was pregnant, my husband said, 'Egypt was such an important time for you. That really changed your life. Wouldn’t that be amazing as a name?' Once he said that, I was like, 'Yes.'"
Keys did reveal while appearing on Live! With Kelly & Michael that big brother Egypt already had some Disney-inspired names picked out for his sibling.
"He's like, 'What about Prince Eric or Ariel?'" she revealed.
Although they didn't settle on this type of name, Egypt may have been onto something with the Disney-inspired names, as they are a hot trend. Rachel Bilson named her daughter Briar Rose after the princess in Sleeping Beauty and Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling named their daughter Esmerelda after the female lead in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Gender-bending baby names like Genesis are a new trend with celebrity parents, with many choosing boy names for girls. Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher welcomed a daughter they named Wyatt, while Jessica Simpson named her daughter the traditional boy name of Maxwell.
Tell us: What do you think of the name Genesis Ali? Weigh in below!
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