Sweet reason behind Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' first daughter's name

Last year, celebrity power couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds announced they'd quietly welcomed their fourth child together.

Despite having been photographed out in public several times since welcoming their family's latest addition - with Blake making a viral appearance at this year's Super Bowl - neither of the acting duo have yet confirmed their newborn's gender, or revealed their name.

This level of secrecy isn't anything out of the ordinary for Blake, 36, and Ryan, 47, however.

The pair previously remained tight-lipped following the births of their first three children

Back in 2015, the duo waited several months after welcoming their first child in 2014, a daughter, before revealing her name.

And when they finally did, their baby-name choice was met with a mixed reaction from fans due to its unconventionality.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

The Gossip Girl actress and her Deadpool frontman husband had given their daughter the gender-neutral name of James.

In the face of the backlash from anti-woke social media trolls (*rolls eyes*), however, the much-loved couple went on to disclose that their choice of moniker spurred from a very special sentiment.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain at the time, Green Lantern star Ryan - who was previously married to fellow actor Scarlett Johansson - explained that his daughter was named after his father, who died months before Blake gave birth.

"My father just passed away," he told ITV hosts Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway. "And my daughter's named after him."

He went on to tease: "On the spectrum of weird celebrity baby names, I feel like we're not really breaking any new ground here.

"I didn't call her Summersquash Meadowlark, or something. I also thought of just going with all the letters being silent in her name, and it would just be pronounced *exhales*."

Since welcoming James, who is now nine, Ryan and Blake have welcomed a further two daughters - seven-year-old Inez, born in September 2016, and four-year-old Betty, born October 2019.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

And last year, the duo announced they were expecting their fourth child together.

Joking ahead of their newborn's birth about potential names once again, Ryan previously told People Magazine: "I don’t want a name that’s anything pretentious or, like, Hollywood-y.

"So, I’m going with Excalibur Anaconda Reynolds... that’s if it’s a girl."

Reynolds briefly mentioned his youngest child while promoting his new Bedtime Stories With Ryan in June last year.

He said: "The idea for a show made to help everyone fall asleep was born the same day as my fourth child."

We're yet to find out if the name he's chosen for his latest arrival is as touching as James'.