Um, Christina Ricci’s Husband Mark Hampton Chose Their Daughter’s Name Without Telling Her

Christina Ricci shared her surprised reaction after discovering that her husband Mark Hampton had changed the name of their newborn daughter—and announced it to the world without her knowing.

By Emlyn Travis Jan 13, 2022 5:40 PMTags
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As the great William Shakespeare once wrote, "What's in a name?" 

Well, Christina Ricci has a few thoughts. On Thursday, Jan. 13, the Yellowjackets star celebrated her "first time out of the house" since the birth of her daughter Cleo with a visit to The Ellen Show—and revealed that her husband, Mark Hampton, changed their newborn daughter's name without her knowledge.

"I had a c-section and right before when they were preparing me, they started talking about how we had to fill out birth certificate stuff," she explained. "My husband was like, ‘well, we're going to give her a full name, right? The nickname's Cleo?'" 

Christina clarified with Mark that he wanted to name their daughter ‘Cleopatra,' but said that she brushed off their conversation with an "OK, fine, whatever" as she got ready for the procedure. 

After the delivery, however, she discovered that he had already decided on their daughter's full name and shared it with the entire world.

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"He got so excited that he put it on Instagram and then media outlets picked up that her name was Cleopatra Ricci Hampton," she said. "I was like, ‘Oh, I guess her name is Cleopatra!'"

"I just thought [her full name] would be Cleo," she said, before she jokingly added, "I was like, ‘well, we'll figure this out later,' but he figured it out while I was recovering." 

The Addams Family actress also shared how her 7-year-old son Freddie Heerdegen—who she shares with ex James Heerdegen—has reacted to becoming an older brother.  

"He's great, he loves being a big brother so much. He kisses her all the time," she said. "He does not like the lack of sleep and chaos that's going on in the house, but, you know, he's being very good." 

And perhaps will follow in mom's footsteps. "He wants to be an actor, but I've told him that he should spend all this time honing his craft," Christina, who kicked off her career at age 7, shared, "so then when he's 18 or 23 or whatever, he's already spent all of his time getting really good."