It’s a big week for actress Kelli Giddish.
Giddish, who plays Detective Amanda Rollins on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, thrilled fans in July when she announced her pregnancy and her secret wedding to Lawrence Faulborn. Now the star has given birth, and she surprised everyone by giving her son the unexpected name Ludo.
The unofficial godfather — costar Ice T — tweeted an adorable photo of his pregnant wife, Coco, holding Giddish’s newborn son, and there were smiles all around.
At the hospital with the newest SVU member 'Ludo' Congrats @TheKelliGiddish and Larry. pic.twitter.com/0QD0uxtWaI
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) October 6, 2015
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Ludo, often short for Ludovic, is a Scottish name that means “light.” Ludo has never appeared among the top 1,000 baby names for boys (and the Social Security Administration has been tracking these things since the late 1800s). Ludo is not even popular in its home country, but it has shown up elsewhere over the past few years.
There’s Ludo Bagman from the Harry Potter series and Ludo, the alternative rock band, from St. Louis, Missouri. Ludek “Ludo” Mikloško played soccer for the Czech Republic in the 1980s and ’90s. And looking way back, we find “Mad King Ludo,” who reigned from 1869 to 1886 and whose real name was Ludwig II of Bavaria.
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It takes only one pop culture icon to start a trend. Mason and Penelope soared up the popularity charts after Kourtney Kardashian gave the names to her children. Of course the more unusual celebrity baby names (Blue, North, Zuma, Sno FilmOn Dot Com) aren’t necessarily catching on.
More:Baby names that mean ‘light’
Fun fact: There’s something in the water on the set of SVU. Kelli Giddish is just one of three costars to be celebrating babies. Ice T’s baby with Coco is due to arrive in December, and Peter Scanavino (Detective Dominick Carisi, Jr.) will welcome his second child in January.
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