Halle Berry’s Newborn Daughter Named Ariela Aubry

Man, nine months can really drag out. I guess that’s the kind of thing people think when they have to go to jail or boarding school or in my case, once, Juvenile Detention disguised as sing-along camp. 

In any case Halle Berry’s number finally came up this past Sunday, putting an end to what seemed like a never-ending pregnancy, as she and boyfriend Gabriel Aubry welcomed their newborn girl into the world.

Today the pair announced the name of their daughter, Ariela Aubry.

"Nahla is the Arabic word for 'drink of water,'" Pamela Redmond Satran, the co-author of The Baby Name Bible and Cool Names for Babies tells Us. "Ariela is related to the Hebrew Ariel, which means 'lion of god.’ 

“Nahla is one of those names that is occasionally found among people of African or Arabic descent, but isn't commonly used in any particular culture," she adds.

"Nala was the name of Simba's lioness mate in Disney's The Lion King, so it kind of has an African flavor as opposed to a genuine African pedigree," says Satran. And Ariela's "Disney antecedent," she says, is Ariel in The Little Mermaid.

As long as Halle Berry isn’t talking that kind of bullshit when she describes naming her daughter, I can still idolize her performance in Monster’s Ball – as for this Pamela Redmond Satran, I don’t know, she seemed to have invented a job for herself...baby naming?  Inventing one’s own usefulness in the world is kind of pretty powerful.  Plus, her own name looks and sounds like Satan.  Or am I just imagining it?  Only Satan would want to profit off the pregnancies of others.

Anyway, congrats to Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry!