Samira Wiley wishes she had more of a story to tell about why she and wife Lauren Morelli decided to name their new baby girl George.
"The Handmaid's Tale" star spoke with Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday night about how she and Morelli came up with the name George Elizabeth for their daughter, who was born on April 11.
"People are very confused, some people, by it," she said. "We got to teach the new generation about this because I really wish that I had some really in-depth story to tell people about George because I know that's what people want.
"You've got to give the people what they really want, but I just really like the name. I just think it's really cute."
Wiley shared her first photo of George on Instagram Sunday in celebration of Mother's Day.
"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 wrote. "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."
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Once Wiley realized how much she liked the name, she did a little digging on it.
"I tried to do some research," she said. "I found out in the 1800s it was a girl's name, but people don't believe me when I say that."
The fourth-most popular name of the 1880s for boys was George, and the fourth-most popular for girls was Elizabeth, according to the Social Security Administration, so there is some symmetry there for George Elizabeth. However, the name George is not listed among the top 200 most popular names for girls in that decade, with the closest being Georgia in 85th.
George Eliot was the pen name for "Middlemarch" and "Silas Marner" author Mary Ann Evans.
Kimmel said he knows of girls named George.
"I know, Nancy Drew, her best friend's name was George!" Wiley said. "You read that?"
"No," Kimmel said.
"Me neither, somebody told me," Wiley said before laughing.
George is the first child for the couple, who married in 2017. They first met when Wiley was starring in the Netflix hit "Orange is the New Black" and Morelli was a writer on the show.