Oscar-winning actor Scarlett Johansson has opened up about the very personal decision behind her young son's distinctive name, sharing why she chose to keep it under wraps until after his birth.
The Challenge of Choosing a Unique Name
During a recent appearance on the talk show "Jenna and Friends" with host Jenna Bush Hager, Johansson discussed the often tricky process of naming a baby. The conversation was inspired by comments from podcaster Kylie Kelce, who spoke about people criticizing the "boy names" she and her husband selected for their daughters.
Johansson revealed that she and her husband, comedian Colin Jost, named their son Cosmo. She admitted she deliberately kept the choice a secret from almost everyone before the birth. "I actually didn't tell anybody. ... I didn't want any of the weird face," Johansson said, before mimicking the strained, hesitant expression people often make when hearing an unconventional name.
Navigating Family Reactions
The Black Widow star emphasized her firm belief that unsolicited opinions on baby names are unnecessary. "Unless you like a name, you probably shouldn't say anything about it. Nobody asked," she stated. "It does not affect your life at all."
Fortunately, Johansson's mother loved the name Cosmo, sharing a sweet personal connection. "My mom actually really liked the name, and told me that her third grade crush was Cosmo," Johansson recalled, noting the moniker "had a great meaning for her."
Her mother-in-law, however, had a slight adjustment in mind. "A few days after, she goes, 'Cosimo is a name I can find. That's a recognizable name,'" Johansson said with a laugh. Her response was definitive: "We're not going to just insert an 'I.' That's what it is."
A Common Celebrity Parenting Dilemma
Host Jenna Bush Hager related to the experience, sharing her own story about naming her eldest daughter. "Our eldest daughter is named Mila, M-I-L-A, which is, like, a perfectly popular name," Bush Hager explained. After the birth, her mother, former First Lady Laura Bush, called to say that in Texas, people were pronouncing it "My-la."
Laura Bush even suggested changing the spelling to avoid the mispronunciation. "You want me to change the spelling of my child's name, because in Texas, they're mispronouncing her name as 'My-la'?" Bush Hager recalled thinking. She decided against it, concluding, "Let's just let her be."
Jenna Bush Hager and her husband Henry Hager have three children: 12-year-old Margaret ("Mila"), 10-year-old Poppy, and 6-year-old Henry ("Hal"). Scarlett Johansson also has an 11-year-old daughter, Rose, from her previous marriage to journalist Romain Dauriac.
The discussion highlights a universal parenting moment—choosing a name with meaning and then learning to navigate the world's reaction to it, a challenge that resonates from Hollywood to households everywhere.
