Carly Rae Jepsen may have found inspiration for her son's name in Heated Rivalry, but the revelation has unexpectedly sparked a much bigger conversation about where parents should be 'allowed' to find baby names.
The 'Call Me Maybe' singer recently revealed to the Hollywood Reporter that her first child with husband Cole M.G.N. is a baby boy named Ilya, while discussing her love for the hit series. Jepsen had previously announced his arrival in March without publicly sharing his gender or name.
'Ilya is the name of my son. Maybe, not maybe because of that show,' Jepsen cheekily admitted. Ilya is also the name of Connor Storrie's Heated Rivalry character, Ilya Rozanov, turning what might have been a simple fandom-inspired baby-name reveal into a slightly heated online debate that no one saw coming.
Is Ilya Too Russian for Carly Rae Jepsen?
On Reddit, some users were less interested in Jepsen's television preferences than in whether choosing Ilya, a name with Russian and wider Slavic associations, was unusual for someone without a publicly known connection to that heritage.
'I'm more surprised that she used such a strongly Russian name despite having no Russian heritage (AFAIK),' one commenter wrote, while stressing that they didn't consider the choice problematic. 'Otherwise, whatever. People find name inspiration in all kinds of places. It's not that deep.'
Others questioned the idea that parents should restrict themselves to names associated with their own heritage.
'Ilya is a beautiful name,' one person argued, noting that variants of the name are used across several Slavic countries.
Another pointed to the many names that have travelled well beyond their cultural origins: 'Most of the popular names in the US come from other countries. Do you really think all those Caitlins are Irish?'
A refreshing point of view in a sea of opinions that might be forgetting one crucial piece of information: not your baby, not your naming rights.
Inspired by a Character or Named After One?
Another debate emerged over whether Jepsen had actually named her baby after Ilya Rozanov or simply discovered a name she liked through the character.
'I would say there's a difference between naming your child after someone and picking the name inspired by it,' one Reddit user argued, explaining that hearing a name through a film or television series doesn't necessarily make the child its character's namesake.
Others shared similar stories of names first encountered through everything from Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Star Wars Rebels and, rather gloriously, 90 Day Fiancé.
One commenter summed up the distinction particularly colourfully: 'If she's watched Heated Rivalry and decided to call her kid "Ilya Shane Hollander Romanov 4ever Jepson" we'd be having a different conversation. But just Ilya is fine.'
Could 'Heated Rivalry' Make 'Ilya' More Popular?
Several commenters predicted Jepsen might have joined a long line of parents who are so charmed by the name 'Ilya' that they want to see it on their child's birth certificate.
Some pointed to both Heated Rivalry and American figure skater Ilia Malinin, whose first name uses a different spelling, as sources giving the name greater visibility among English-speaking audiences.
'I feel like between Heated Rivalry and the figure skater Ilia [Malinin], that the name will probably be more popular this year and next,' one Reddit user predicted.
Pop culture influencing baby names is hardly new, and the Reddit discussion was full of parents and children whose names were discovered through television, films, and books.
In Jepsen's case, however, the debate may ultimately be more complicated than the name itself, which prompts the question: why was it even a debate to begin with?
She heard Ilya. She liked Ilya. She named her baby Ilya. Somewhere between those three perfectly normal events, the internet apparently convened an international baby-naming committee nobody remembers electing.
He's a baby. She's his mum. It's a beautiful name.
Maybe, not maybe, just let Ilya be Ilya.
