Samira Wiley: Fans ‘very confused’ about daughter George’s name
Wiley introduced baby George to the world via Instagram on Mother's Day
On Mother’s Day, Samira Wiley shared the news that she and her wife had welcomed a new child into the world. Now the Orange Is the New Black star is addressing fans who have voiced confusion regarding her newborn daughter’s unorthodox name.
Thursday, during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the 34-year-old actress explained why she and her wife Lauren Morelli decided to name their daughter, George Elizabeth.
When Kimmel, inquired about the pair’s choice to give their child such a traditionally masculine name, Wiley conceded, “People are very confused, some people, by it.”
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“We got to teach the new generation about this because I wish that I had some really in-depth story to tell people about George, cause I know that’s what people want [and] you got to give the people what they want,” she teased. “But I just really like the name, I just think it’s really cute.”
“I tried to do some research, I found out in the 1800s it was a girls name, but people don’t believe me when I say that,” she added.
Kimmel confirmed he knows of women named George.
“I know, Nancy Drew, her best friend’s name was George!” Wiley said, referencing the popular Nancy Drew novel series, in which Drew’s female best friend was indeed named George.
“You read that?” she asked the talk show host, to which he responded, “No.”
“Me neither, somebody told me,” Wiley said before laughing.
According to the Social Security Administration, the fourth-most popular name of the 1880s for boys was George, and the fourth-most popular for girls was Elizabeth, so there is a bit of old-world symmetry to her daughter’s moniker.
An extra special Mother’s Day
As we previously reported, Sunday, Wiley announced the arrival of her newborn daughter in a post shared on Instagram.
“Happy 1st Mother’s Day to my beautiful wife, who four weeks ago today after laboring for almost 3 days gave birth to our first child — our gorgeous daughter, George.,” Wiley captioned a heartwarming photo of their newborn grasping both her moms’ fingers.
“Welcome to the world, babygirl. We love you and we thank you for giving us the best 1st Mother’s Day two ladies could ask for,” she continued, sharing that George was born on April 11th.
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Her wife also posted the same photo writing in her caption, “4 weeks ago today, our daughter came into the world and changed everything. We are so happy, so grateful, and so tired. George Elizabeth, 4.11.21 ❤️.”‘
Back in 2017, the actress and writer, who played Poussey Washington on the Netflix original series, married her long-term partner in a small ceremony with family and friends. They got married in Palm Springs, where Morelli, the OINTB writer, proposed with a glittering engagement ring.
Morelli discussed proposing with Out Magazine in December. She said the pair were enjoying a weekend getaway when, “I realized I could propose right before and then we’d have the weekend there to celebrate,” before going on to say, “I found a ring, and they shipped it to me, and it was as if someone had handed me a ball of fire and said, ‘Here, tend to this.'”
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