Scarlett Johansson Opens up About the Drama of Choosing a Baby Name & ‘The Weird Faces’ That She Received

When Scarlett Johansson and husband Colin Jost decided on the name Cosmo for their now 4-year-old son, they knew it would come with some backlash. Cosmo is a beautiful name with Greek origins that comes from “kosmos” and means “order.” It’s a cool, celestial name with star power that’s the perfect moniker for the son of two stars. Plus, it makes him stand out in a unique way that many celebrities like — just think of Gwyneth Paltrow’s daughter Apple and Trisha Payton’s daughter Malibu Barbie for example. However, that didn’t make it any easier for Johansson ahead of announcing her son’s name. She just shared how nervous she was for the drama surrounding his name and the “weird faces” she would get.

“When we named our son Cosmo, I actually didn’t tell anybody for that very reason. I didn’t want any of the weird faces,” the Jurassic World: Rebirth star said on a recent episode of Today with Jenna & Friends, per PEOPLE. “You know when you tell someone they go like this, ‘Oh that’s…that’s different.’ You know when they do that, and you’re like, ‘What’s happening? You don’t like it?’”

Ugh, that’s so hard! I have felt the same way with my kids’ names, with people calling them “too popular,” “too matchy-matchy,” and that I should have chosen a different name instead (yes, seriously). Luckily, though, Johansson’s mom was supportive.

“My mom loved it, which was great,” the Fly Me to the Moon star, who is also mom to Rose, 11, with ex Romain Dauriac, continued. “It was like, phew. She was like, ‘Oh, I had a, you know, I had like a…my third grade crush was Cosmo.’ It had a great meaning for her.”

Jost’s mom, however, struggled with the name. “My mother-in-law was like, a few days after she goes, ‘Cosimo is a name I can find. That’s a recognizable name,'” Johansson recalled.

Jost previously shared his mom’s unfiltered feelings on their baby’s name. In a 2021 appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the Saturday Night Live star said that despite being supportive of him and Johansson, his mom still didn’t like their chosen baby name.

“My family is very supportive always,” he said on the episode. “My mom, I would say, was slightly thrown by [the name] and didn’t quite understand it. I don’t know if she thought it was kind of like a hippie thing?”

“She would call us, after three or four days, she’d be like, ‘Cosmo…’ She’d be like, ‘And, now, is it final? Like, did you submit the birth certificate?’ And we’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, we did that at the hospital,’” Jost continued. “She was like ‘Oh okay, interesting. Because I was reading that there’s also a name Cosimo with an ‘I’ so that could also be an option. Maybe you call him Cosimo, that’s his real name, but then you can call him still Cosmo.’”

Lucky, though, it didn’t take long for Jost’s mom to acclimate to her new grandson’s name. “She lives in Staten Island, eventually she started meeting various members of the Italian community who have a lot of Cosmo relatives,” Jost said. “So then she would call and she would say, ‘I met someone they said their uncle’s name is Cosmo. So, it is OK.’ And I was like, ‘It’s locked in.’”

In my experience, most people get used to the baby’s name once the baby is here. So, if you wait to tell everyone until then, you have a much better chance at a good reception! At the end of the day, though, all that matters is that the parents love it.

From Kamai to Arys, here’s a list of gender-neutral baby names that are super rare.