Scarlett Johansson reveals how she and husband Colin Jost decided on son’s name

Scarlett Johansson has revealed how she and husband Colin Jost decided on the name Cosmo for their son.

The 37-year-old actor discussed how she and the comedian came up with her child’s name during an interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Monday, where she went on to recall why she liked the name.

“We just threw a bunch of letters together,” she joked to host Kelly Clarkson. “No, but I just really thought it was so charming and our friends all liked it.”

However, the Black Widow star poked fun at the fact that not everyone loved the name Cosmo, as Jost’s mother had even encouraged the couple to change it.

“Colin’s mom had a little bit of a harder time with it,” Johansson continued. “She kept suggesting other versions of it for a while and I was like, ‘No he’s already out, it’s past that time.’”

In October 2021, during an appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, Jost first revealed that his mother tried to convince him and his wife to change their son’s name.

While he noted his family had been “very supportive” of his son, he also said that his mother was “slightly thrown” by the name Cosmo, before specifying the other suggestions she had.

“I don’t know if she thought it was kind of like a hippie thing?” he said. “But she would call us, you know, after like three or four days, she’d be like: ‘Cosmo.’ And she’d be like: ‘And, now, is it final? Like, did you submit the birth certificate?’” Jost explained.

“And we’re like: ‘Oh, yeah, we did that at the hospital.’ And she’s like: ‘Okay. Interesting. Because I was reading that there’s also a name Cosimo, with an I. So, that could also be an option,’” he continued.

However, the “Weekend Update” co-host then revealed that his mother eventually got on board with the name, after meeting other people who were also named Cosmo.

Elsewhere in her interview with Clarkson, Johansson acknowledged how both of her children’s names are also names of flowers, as she shares an eight-year-old daughter, Rose, with ex-husband Romain Dauriac.

“Cosmo is a really sweet little flower that comes in different shades of orange and yellow, that’s why my daughter liked it too,” she said.

Jost announced the birth of his and Johansson’s son on Instagram in August 2021 and noted how “privacy would be greatly appreciated”, at the time.

Earlier this year, while speaking with Vanity Fair, the Marriage Story star opened up about her second pregnancy and revealed why she and her husband opted to it a secret.

“I wanted to be able to have my own feelings about my changing body without other people also telling me how they saw me, whether it was positive or negative,” she said. “I realised when I was pregnant with my son, it’s funny how much stuff people put on you when you’re pregnant — their hopes or their judgement or their desire, a lot of that is put on pregnant women.”