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May 05 2011 04:40 PM ET
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Jay Mohr and Nikki Cox Welcome Son Meredith Daniel

Dan MacMedan/WireImage

It’s a happy Cinco de Mayo for Jay Mohr and Nikki Cox, who welcomed their first child together on Thursday, their rep tells PEOPLE.

The couple’s baby boy, Meredith Daniel Mohr, weighed in at 6 lbs. 7 oz.

“We are over the moon, filled with joy and every other cliché new parents use,” the couple tells PEOPLE of their bundle of joy. “He’s perfect.”

Mohr, 40, and Cox, 32, were married in 2006 at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles.

– Julie Jordan and Sara Hammel

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Congrats to them. IMO….why would they give their son a girls name??

- Regina on

I didn’t know that she was pregnant!!? Did I miss the news? Congrats!

- MP on

Congratulations, and I’m sorry to say this, but Meredith for a boy? Thank goodness his parents are rich – he’ll need it for therapy. Maybe there is a great story behind the name that he can be proud of.

Again, congratulations to the new mom and dad on the block.

- mominFL on

Congratulations to them! Interesting name choice. I love both of them.

- klutzy_girl on

Has Meredith ever been a masculine name? I can understand Ashley, but Meredith?

Congrats to them on on a healthy baby, I just don’t get this name choice.

- Amanda K on

@MP I’m with you, I didn’t even know they were having a baby either. They must have kept a low profile, otherwise we would have seen them all over this site, right?
Anyway, congrats & many blessings to them! Maybe Meredith is a family name?

- saydee on

I have to assume that Meredith is after Don Meredith perhaps (Jay is a big sports guy), and that they will most likely call him Daniel.

- Brooke on

It actually used to be a male name…so wonder if it’s a family name on one side or the other??

“Meredith is an uncommon given name, and a surname common in parts of Wales. It comes from the Welsh “Maredudd”, meaning “great lord.”[1] It was more commonly a male name prior to the 20th century, but the genders for the name switched and female usage has been the more popular of late.[2]”

Anway, I had no idea they were married or expecting. I loved her on Las Vegas.

- Jen K on

Meredith is a traditional Welsh name for boys. It became a popular girl’s name in America during the first World War.

- lizzielui on

Actually, I just looked it up, it’s her father’s name.

- Jen K on

Did these parents just gave their son a girls name? I have never heard this name on a boy. I had to read it again just to make sure I was looking at it right. Oh well! Congrats on being new parents.

- martha on

Also, I hardly recognized Nikki in the picture. She must have had some work done to her face or maybe it’s just the angle. She looks different.

- saydee on

I’m all for opposite gender names, but…Meredith?

- Brittany on

I wouldn’t use Meredith for a boy in this day and age, but it was originally a boy’s name…. that has now grown in popularity for girls.

- Jenny on

Was it announced she was pregnant? I had no idea.

- DM on

i loved nikki, and i’m glad she had a baby, but i hope she stops hacking up her face…

- fay on

Meredith is a girl name.

- emily on

Aww, named for Grandpa! I love it. He could also go by “MD” – that’d be kind of cute, and could eventually end up as “Doc.” Which would be hilarious.

Yep to everyone who did the research and found out that Meredith is/was a boys’ name historically. As were Lindsay, Ashley and a few other “girls’” names.

- Jen DC on

Jay has an older son Jack, from his six-year marriage with former model Nicole Chamberlain.

And Meredith is a Welsh male name and honor’s Nikki’s father.

- Sonya on

She really needs to lay off the plastic surgery. It makes her look at least 10 years older, if not more. I hope becoming a mother improves her self-esteem, so she doesn’t do any more damage to what used to be a stunningly beautiful face.

- Mira on

Do you think that kids in the playground are going to care that Meredith USED to be a boys name or that in Wales it’s a boys name?

- Aimee on

Meredith is a boys name stolen for the girls like so many names. I actually like it quite a bit and commend them for using it. Beats all of the girls named Jayden and Aidynne and Micah which is worse and nobody complains about it. All that aside… Nikki Cox now scares me a bit.

- D on

Are you 100% sure she delivered the baby, she was just on “Watch What Happens Live” a few weeks ago, and she didn’t look pregnant at all…perhaps a surrogate? Either way, congrats.

- Jennifer Young on

Merdith no matter how you spin it screams girl!!

And yeah I would of never gathered this was Nikki Cox! ruh roh!

- JMO on

Aimee, those kids on the playground will only know something is different if they have a parent going, “eww…that’s a girls name!” much like they learn all their bullying behavior.

- meghan on

It would be nice if people did some research before opening their mouths–Meredith was originally a boy’s name. Besides, even if it were a girl’s name, what’s the problem? The biggest trend these days is giving little girls male names, so why isn’t it acceptable for boys to have female names? The name Meredith sounds gender neutral anyway, nothing about it is particularly “feminine”.

- M on

O M G…What happened to her?!?!!!! She’s only 32 and she looks 45! I can’t believe what she has done to herself! :( Eeeek!

- Ali on

Meredith is a male name. Wise up! A name doesn’t change it’s origins just because people use it on the wrong gender.

- Jane on

I agree with Meghan, little kids won’t think its weird unless their parents point it out. I remember having a friend named “Madison” when I was a child (long before the name became trendy), and I never thought her name was strange until I was a little older and had been exposed to adults making negative comments about her name for years. At this point, I had already been conditioned by society to be more judgmental. However, when I was a small, uncorrupted child I thought her name was normal like any other.

- M on

Thankfully for this little guy, Meredith isn’t a very popular name right now so maybe the other boys won’t NOTICE that it’s commonly a girl’s name.

And it is so sad what she has done to her face. She used to be so pretty. It started with just the lips and things went swiftly downhill after that.

http://www.awfulplasticsurgery.com/category/nikki-cox/

- Silly Mama on

Well said Megan, no child is going to know they have an “unusual” or the so called “wrong” gender name unless someone; who would be an adult, points it out. And Meredith didn’t used to be a boys name, it still IS a boys name.

They’re joining the “M” trend, with Miriah’s two, and those other boy girl twins who M names Ive forgotten!

- Georgina on

“The name Meredith sounds gender neutral anyway, nothing about it is particularly “feminine”.”

Nothing about the name sounds masculine to ME or many others based on the comments I am reading. So, nothing about the name sounds gender neutral; however, I think it is very nice to have named the child after her father. I think it is always nice when families do so.

I would never have thought this was Nikki Cox due to all the work she had done on her face. Yikes….

- Jillian on

What morons, poor kid is going to be teased to death.

- biscuit on

I know a couple of men called Meredith.

The only female Meredith I’ve ever heard of is Ellen Pompeo’s character in Grey’s Anatomy!

- Sydney on

Meredith is a boys and a girls name. Just like so many others.

- Gigi on

Masculine names on girls is always sooo cute but giving a boy a traditionally masculine name results in the parents being called morons. Oh, there are some morons here, and it’s not Jay and Nikki…

I love it. Meredith Mohr is a great name.

- soph on

Boo.

- Meredyth on

Meredith is a gender neutral name much like Marion, Monroe, Ashley, Kelly, and Stacy just to name a few. They will probably call him by his middle name.

- Lilith on

My name is Meredith (I am a girl) and I absolutely love that they used used Meredith as a male name. So cute and different! Meredith was originally a male name (like Ashley, Morgan, Shannon, etc). It is also Nikki’s dads name, which is really sweet to honor him. I have never though of Meredith as an overly feminine name. I think it works great for both genders! It’s a bold choice for a boy, but I adore it. :)

- Meredith on

All of you dumbasses need to know Meredith is a boys name! It just happens that dumb parents decided to give the name to girls like hundreds of other names that are now unisex – aka boy names on girls.

Anyway, I bow down to them for going with it! Congrats! Time we start taking back all the boys names

- Macy on

At first i was like why???????? Morroccan now Meredith for a boy (Mainly due to the popularity of Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy)….

but since i now know its a Welsh boy’s name and it’s her father’s name i guess it makes sense.

i didnt know that she was expecting too…hmmm so it is possible to hide a pregnancy in hollywood kudos!

Also i can help but think she used to be sooo pretty…she and josh duhamel on las vegas… why plastic surgery Nikki????

- Diann283 on

Congratulations to them, I think it’s very sweet they named after his grandfather.

- Toya L. on

I really had no idea that it was traditionally a boys name. It’s great that they honored her father that way. Still, I don’t think calling someone a dumbass is appropriate.

- Amanda K on

The double standards are kind of sickening. Nobody bats an eyelash when girls are given ridiculously masculine names so why can’t a boy receive a name that is traditionally male? Even if its currently common amongst girls? As a few ladies mentioned the name isn’t too common right now so perhaps his generation won’t notice. My daughter and son both have middle names that are meant for the opposite sex but i sincerely doubt theyll be picked on. Kids deserve more credit!!!

I think Meredith is a lovely name for a boy even though I’m not a fan of the name for a girl.

- Gaia and labans mom on

I had no idea Nikki was pregnant! I’ve always thought she was so beautiful, but I barely recognized her in that picture.

Anyway, congrats to Nikki and Jay on their new bundle of joy. I love his name!

- LisaS on

People like Macy make me sigh and then laugh and then hope they don’t have any children to pass on their horrible manners and name calling to. Almost every name a celebrity gives their child, she hates but this one she likes so she feels the need to name call those who dislike it. It continues to amaze me how those feel it is acceptable to do that one someone voices their opinion. Can’t get your point across with name calling?

- Jillian on

Prefer his middle name, Daniel would’ve been nicer IMO (although not that heard of these days really?) but I guess can’t expect normality for a celeb bub (although the odd exception thankfully!).

- Sam & Freya's Mum on

“The name Meredith sounds gender neutral anyway, nothing about it is particularly “feminine”.” -M

Well, the ending sounds feminine to me. “-ith” sound is used at the end of some (less common) girl names: Judith, Lilith, Edith, and Gwyneth. Elizabeth/Elizabith is one more common girl’s name with the ending -ith sound. I realize that through different experiences people will make different connections with sounds or parts of names, but in the US it is more commonly female.

Young Meredith Daniel should not have any problems on the playground with children thinking he has a girl’s name . . . unless everyone watches grey’s anatomy and starts naming their new baby girls Meredith. Then he will have a problem.

- Hannah on

I’m guessing Emily didn’t read the comments above her own explaining the name’s history before she told us all that Meredith is a girl’s name…lol!

- J on

Meredith was a boys name first. Just like Ashley, Marion, Lee, Morgan, Robin, Dana, Tracy and Stacey. Those are all originally a boys names. Some names are just androgynous. Congratulations to Jay & Nikki. She used to be so pretty. She needs to lay off the botox or whatever. I didn’t recognize her and she’s too young. She was so beautiful before now she looks older.

- OCtober on

Hannah, how about Kenneth/Kennith, Seth, Booth, Gareth/Garith, Heath, Jareth?

- Macy on

What happened to her? If this is who I’m thinking of, she looks totally different. Wow!

But congrats on the baby!

- Shannon on

who and who?

- Soco on

This is funny because today stuck in bed with the flu, I was watching Las Vegas on TNT & wondering why she & Jay never had kids…’cause I saw him on Law & Order:CI Sunday…& poof!!! Too weird. Congrats!!!

- Alicia on

Sydney – here’s another. Meredith Veira from the Today show (formally The View). Now you’ve heard of two :)

Macy – “All you dumbasses?” really? what are you 12??

The orgins of names to me is kind of comical. Who came up with the idea of what constitutes a masculine vs feminine name?? Sometimes some names sound more feminine and you can only picture them on girls because you yourself have never met a male with that name. I have only heard of Meredith for a girl so to me it’s a girls name. Atleast it’s an actual name though and not made up so for that they get some points on my end! lol

- JMO on

I just did an image search and there is no picture of her pregnant. I dont think she had this baby herself. I dont care, doesnt matter, they dont want to disclose anything, their business. Just posting for anyone wondering.

As for the name controversy, what I find amusing is no one says a thing about a girl having a traditional male name. Its just a “strong” name. Very sexist. My brother has a name that was a male name for a full thousand years. Then right after they named him a tv show used it and suddenly it was a (popular) girl’s name and has been ever since. Guess what? He survived to be a happy, well adjusted, and highly successful adult.

Nikki, please pretty please, stop with the surgeons! So sad, such a waste of a gorgeous face.

- ajl on

Some of the articles I read said that she gave birth and they have got to be wrong. She was on Watch What Happens Live back on April 10th. I just rewatched it and there is NO way that she is 8 months pregnant or pregnant at all. PEggy asked her if they have children and she said they have an 8 year old. Oh and if people think her injections look bad in the photo above……check her out on WWHL, her lips are worse than almost any housewive I have seen.

- Jillian on

Amanda K- Actually years ago Meredith was more commonly used as a boys name but overtime it became used more often for girls. I once met a woman named Meredith like me and she told me she was actually named after her Dad. Another example is the creator of “A Music Man” was a man named Meredith Wilson.

- MeredithM on

Meredith is a boy’s name from Wales, which Americsns started using as a girl’s name a few years ago. If you were a girl named Meredith in Wales, or even UK, you would definitely get teased! Lovely name and congrats to both.

- Viv on

In Wales, Meredith is a boy’s name and it’s traditionally pronounced me-RED-ith (the stress is on the second syllable.) Emlyn, Brynn, Gwyn, Reese, Meredith, Dylan… all boy’s names.

In the US, Meredith’s popularity as a baby name (for either sex) is dropping pretty fast, by the time this little boy is in school it will may be even more uncommon.

@Sam & Freya’s Mum: Daniel has been consistently in the top #20 since the 50′s… plenty of people are using it.

- Julie on

Viv, Americans started using Meredith as a girl’s name more than a few years ago . . .

- dsfg on

It’s actually a boy’s name meaning ‘Great Lord’..

- Niamh on

if they live in the US it’s a girl’s name, and the boy will HATE it.

- LRL on

her breasts? bad

- annachestnut on

probably they really (really) wanted to have a daughter, but congrants with their little baby boy :)

- elizabeta on

I know there’s a lot of controversy here about the name, but I can’t get past the picture above and that horrible dress. It barely covers the nipples of that bad boob job. She looks ridiculous.

- Tristan on

Meredith….really?! Didn’t even know she was pregnant…..Congrats!

- Capri on

i knew a male Meredith, it was traditionally a male name so i don’t really understand the people who just flat out say it’s a girl’s name. well…. it’s not…

anyway, not a name i would have picked but not too bad.

- JM on

JMO – Live in the UK and have never seen The View.

- Sydney on

I’ve never heard of a male named Meredith, I’ve only heard of females named Meredith, so of course I wondered why they named him a feminine name. I love reading articles about celebs on here and seeing their kiddos but not enough to search up the origin of every single name they give their child(ren) to see if it was once used for males or females and then became unisex. Again, congratulations to them.

- Toya L. on

I bet some of you haven’t even realized that Maria can be a male name too.

- Hea on

My sister named her son a really awful first name, to honor her husband and his father. He has always gone by his middle name, and none of the kids know what his real first name is and he’s in high school now.

Now if they just randomly chose the name Meredith, I would question it, but since it is for her father, I think it is a fine name choice.

- AJ on

I’m sorry but she looks like a man. And yes I am entitled to my opinion!

- AmandaC on

It’s a family name. Calm yourselves!!!

- Lyoness on

That poor child. I don’t care if its a boys name in Wales or whatever. People associate it with being a girls name and it stinks.

- Shannon on

Sydney – don’t worry no loss in that lol ;)

- JMO on

Shannon, are Welsh people not people? lol, what a stupid comment.
“people” associate it with being a girl’s name? i mean seriously!

- JM on

You are so right, Jennifer. I was just about to write the same thing. Nikki JUST appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on April 10th (her husband and Peggy were the night’s guests) and there was absolutely no sign of a baby bump. Congratulations to them on their new baby, however he was brought into the world. And I believe Meredith is a family name from her side…

- Kerry on

She used to be so pretty on “Unhappily Ever After”–what happend?

- Mia on

I get that it’s traditionally a boy’s name, but, unlike other boys names that in America have become common for girls, this one is just TOO much considered a girl’s name. I would have expected Marion before I would have seen this one coming.

Side note – I thought Nikki Cox was so pretty BEFORE the overuse of plastic surgery and spray tans.

- Kat on

My little sis’s name is Meredith. Named after my grandmother who is from England. Meredith was her last name.

- andi on

I think people should stop making boy names into girls period. I hate unsex names there are so many great names instead of picking names that used to be boy names for girls. Names were made for a season there is something behinde great names in history certain things should never change that is boy names that are now girl names like Kelsey and many others.

- Eliza on

I could see Meredith being used for a boy. I don’t really see the problem.

Ashley seems so much more feminine to me that Meredith ever will. I don’t even know of any Merediths, but growing up I knew literally about 10 Ashleys, Ashlees, and Ashleighs.

- Frost on

i just watched the clip from watch what happens live and she does not look pregnant at all! And omg what did she do to her face, poor girl. She looks terrible. Her lips are huuuugee. She was so pretty years ago. I didnt even know they already had a kid.

- Inge on

I wish these two all the best with their baby. I just wanted to know what did Nikki do to her face. It looks like someone took a hammer and a chisel, and used those tools to chisel away at her face. Like an artist chiseling away at stone when creating a sculpture. This is just my opinion.

- Jennifer Chew on

Kids on the playground do not care the origins of your “traditional or original” kid’s name…doesn’t matter one bit. If it doesn’t “fit” with the norm, the kid is going to have a big target on him/her. That’s just the way it is. People REALLY need to take names into consideration if they plan on having their children interact with the rest of the world. I’m not saying it’s fair. I’m saying that is just the way it is and it’s brutal on kids to be made fun of or have their names given unflattering nicknames and I’ve seen it haunt kids into adulthood. I grew up with a guy named Robin Hood and a girl named Penny Hooker. I promise you these are real people and their parents CHOSE to give these poor kids those names. You cannot imagine what they went through. I felt so badly for them and never teased them…but dozens of kids did and many followed that “pack mentality” of if their friends teased, they teased also. I realize in the celebrity world their “reality” is far different from ours. But, at an early age, the teasing is going to happen, celeb or not. Nikki looks horrific. I didn’t recognize this once-beautiful woman. How frightening to chose to do that to your face and body, for she’s had a LOT of work done…bad work. Sad.

- Rose on

What on earth happened to this gorgeous woman? Her face, her boobs? Such a shame.

Congrats on the baby though!

- Hea on

She looks so plastic in that picture – her mouth looks so fake!

- BabyBlogAddict on

The name Meredith is a very old traditional name for either a boy or girl. Although I don’t agree with boys being named after girls and vice versa. It just causes too many issues for the child until adulthood (not worth it)

- Madeline on

She was so beautiful and she really fucked up her face.

I wish them both well.

- Vera on

Meredith strange name for a boy? is it a unisex name? are they english or something? hmmm

- Lala on

i cant believe that nikli cox! she looks old! idk they were married.

- steph on

I can’t believe people are defending Meredith as a name for a boy. For Pete’s sake people, it’s the 21st century, it’s the US, the name Meredith is for a girl. Stupid, stupid Hollywood.

- Jennifer on

Nikki used to be a guy’s name, maybe it’s payback time for her.

- mo on

I agree with most of the posters here that the name Meredith IS NOT a name for a boy!! At least his middle name is Daniel. So when he gets older, he can go by his middle name. And no one else will know what his first name is. Because it’s probably a safe bet that when he gets older he’s going to HATE his first name!!!

In my opinion, unisex names bother me in general. My cousin named her son Taylor, and for the life of me I can’t stand that name. When it comes to names, in my opinion, there should be no gender crossing. There are names for females and names for males…that’s it. No more no less.

- Jennifer Chew on

I agree with most of the posters here…Meredith IS NOT a name for a boy!!! At least his middle name is Daniel, so when he gets older he can go by his middle name. That way no one he associates with later in life will know what his first name is. Because it’s probably a safe bet that when he does get older he will HATE his first name, and eventually will resent his parents for naming him Meredith.

In general unisex names bother me. My cousin named her son Taylor, and I can’t stand that name. In my opinion, when it comes to names there should be no cross gendering. There are certain names for females, and certain names for males…that’s it. No more no less.

- Jennifer Chew on

Why don’t you people lighten up and realize that people can name their kids whatever they want. Meredith is a fine name, much better than Moroccan and Monroe, anyway. And Nikki Cox is gorgeous and Jay Mohr is hot and hysterical. All of you haters are just jealous.

- nat on

Congrats! I think it’s cute. Maybe he will go with Daniel when he’s older…who knows, it’s their life and their child, they can do what they want. It’s better than “Blackjack” or “Gypse Rose”.

- carrie on

Relax ppl, I’m sure the baby will be fine & if he has any trouble he can go to his grandfather for advis as Nikki’s dad is named Meredith.

- Alecia on

My son, my husband, my father-in-law and his father–all Merediths. The name was co-opted as a name for women early in the century in this country, as many have pointed out. None of these people in my family are actually called Meredith, though it’s their first name.

I wonder if the people who are denigrating the name Meredith used for a male have a problem with surnames ending in -son having been co-opted for girls? Madison? Really? The very meaning of the name is “son of”…

- Shonuf on

My middle name is Meredith after my Grandfather. Its a MALE name also! Congrats to the new parents. Its sad that people have nothing better to do then hate on the name of a new baby!

- Sophia on

I can’t believe that what people are focusing on is the kid’s name and not that his mother has totally destroyed her face!

- Brooke on

they adopted

- Anonymous on

Nikki was a gorgeous woman… then she ruined her lips… anyways, I saw that her dad’s name is Meredith, and it’s great that they named their baby after her father! Congrats to them both!

- Ty on

I can’t stand him, but she was a good actress. It’s a shame she didn’t get more jobs

- Treva on

Surely Nikki can afford to buy herself a better pair of breasts. And I hope she has sense enough to sue the plastic surgeon that messed up her face. She used to be a very pretty girl.

BTW, Meredith is a Welsh name meaning “great lord” or “great ruler”. It was a very common, almost-always male name until the last 50 years when it’s been widely used for girls.

Somebody went out on a limb and gave the name Meredith to a girl, and then somebody copied it, and then another person and another person, and it got to be one of those trendy girl’s names like Taylor or Jordan or Kendall, all of which used to be boys’ names.

There’s no reason IMO why Meredith can’t be a boy’s name, and I applaud the choice of a name honoring one’s father.

People can be cruel and very stupid when it comes to denigrating other parents’ choice of names for their child. It’s a personal thing.

- dhendricks on

WELL IN AMERICA, MEREDITH IS A GIRLS NAME.

- Mom Of Twins on

Why would they give their son a blatantly obvious girls name, the poor boy will get picked on….cruel.

- Kelly on

Congrats to the couple. While it may be a litle unusal for a boy, it certainly is much better than what some stars are namiming their children.

- Susan Albert on

You Americans can’t have seriously turned Meredith into a girl name too, have you?

First Ashley, Then Courtney, and now this..

- Liam on

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