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What’s in a Name? Sandra Bullock’s Son, Louis Bardo

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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.

Sandra Bullock made a truly distinctive and meaningful choice by naming her adopted son Louis Bardo.

Louis, inspired by jazz great Louis Armstrong, is an ancient royal name with both French and German origins that means "renowned warrior."  Pronounced with either an s or (as Bullock does) a long e sound at the end, the name has been trending downward in the U.S. for decades, but is a smash hit in many forms through Europe.

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

Louis is in the top 10 in France and Belgium, Lewis is a top name in Scotland and both Louise and the related Lilou are in the girls' top 10 in France.  Luis is in the top 10 for boys in both Mexico and Liechtenstein.

Heidi Klum and Seal named their infant daughter Lou earlier this year, and LeeLee Sobieski's new daughter is Louisanna Ray.

The name of 18 kings of France, one of them sainted, Louis fell into disuse in that country after Louis XVI, husband of Marie Antoinette, was guillotined during the French Revolution.  Other famous bearers include scientist Louis Pasteur and Jeckyll & Hyde author Robert Louis Stevenson.

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Baby Louis' middle name, Bardo, is even more unusual, but packs at least as much personal meaning for Bullock.  An obscure German (the star's late mother was German) saint's name and an Aboriginal name meaning "water," Bardo also refers to the Buddhist concept of an intermediate state, significant because of the important transitions in Bullock's life — going from childless woman to mother and from wife to single person at the same time.

Related celebrity baby names include Bardot, as in the surname of sultry French star of the 1950s Brigitte, newborn daughter of David Boreanaz.  Other celebrity baby names that end in the stylish o are: Enzo, sons of both Patricia Arquette and Annabeth Gish; Kenzo, son of Kimora Lee Simmons and Djimon Hounsou; Lazaro, son of Gabriel Garcia Bernal; Milo, son of Liv Tyler; Rocco, Madonna's little boy; Viggo, son of Natalie and Taylor Hanson and Romeo, the name of Victoria and David Beckham's middle son.

Another celebrity baby name that references Buddhism is Bodhi, which means spiritual awakening and freedom from the cycle of birth, karma, and death, chosen by Amy Brenneman and Brad Silberling as well as Oliver Hudson for their sons

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