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What’s in a Name? Nina Garcia’s Son, Alexander

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Nameberry.com editors Pamela Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz — who penned the books Baby Name Bible and Beyond Ava & Aiden — are blogging for UsMagazine.com about why celebs choose the names they do, and what they mean.

Fashion maven Nina Garcia — mainstay of Project Runway, fashion director of Elle magazine and best-selling style book author — has opted for classic style when naming her second son Alexander David, born on November 29.

BLOG: Read more "What's in a Name?" columns

Alexander is an ancient Greek name meaning "defender of men," with its most famous historic namesake, the Greek Alexander III, King of Macedon, known as Alexander the Great. Other notable associations include Alexander Hamilton and Alexander Graham Bell, sculptor Calder and writers Pope, Pushkin and Solzhenitsyn.

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An international favorite, Alexander has always been well used in this country, in the Top 100s since 1977. It's now the fourth most popular boy's name in the U.S., given to over 18,000 baby boys last year. Other celebrities who have chosen it are Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber (their Alexander is usually called Sasha), Lauren Holly, Chris Evert, William Hurt, Wolfgang Puck and Melanie Griffith.

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The middle name David was given in honor of the boy's father, David Conrod. This Biblical choice, meaning "beloved friend," is another perennial favorite, in the Top 20 since the 1920s, reaching the No. 1 spot in 1960 and now at No. 14. It has an infinite number of notable namesakes, from David Copperfield to David Letterman.

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Several other celebs have named their sons this Old Testament classic, including Madonna, Jennifer Hudson, Mo'Nique, and one of this era's most imaginative character namers, J.K. Rowling.

When it came to naming her first-born son, Garcia went slightly further afield. Lucas is the Greek form of the saint's name Luke, and it has been rising in popularity over the past couple of decades, reaching the Top 40 for the first time last year.

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