Baby Names Meanings
Search 30,000 baby names. Find a unique name for your baby.





Your Ad Here






Johan_splash

Update: We've learned the meanings of Johan's names, thanks to RTL. Johan is a Nordic and German version of the name Johannes, a Hebrew name that means, "The Lord is gracious." Riley is traditionally Irish in background and means "small stream or creek," Fyodor is Russian and means "God's gift," and Taiwo means "to smell/taste the world" in Yoruba. In twin births in Africa (Seal is English with a Nigerian/Brazilian background) the first twin in a set is often called or nicknamed Taiwo.

RTL also confirms that Leni's name is simply 'Leni Klum' - she has no middle name, unlike her brothers' multiple ones!

Also, RTL reports that Johan's birth was Heidi's first Cesarean section. No reason was given, but we assume it was not elective due to Heidi's quote from a year ago after Henry's birth - "Henry's birth was easier than Leni's, because I knew what to expect. I would never consider an elective c-section for a few reasons - because I like the experience of a vaginal birth, and also I am scared to have my abdomen cut open!"

Seal has also posted a new blog - it reads, "Mama and baby are doing great. She is so good at having babies, I feel so blessed and fortunate to have a wife like her, they are both so beautiful. Leni and Henryboy were both so excited seeing him yesterday. It's amazing how much he looks like Leni when she was born. I mean, he is completely different looking from Henryboy so as Lauren put it, he will surely look more like HK as he grows. He is so precious and really hasn't been that noisy on his first night spent on earth. Wow! what an amazing experience to have been a part of.

Thanks for all the kind wishes that you guys keep sending us. You're all the best fans anyone could ever have..... I really mean that."

Seal_heidi Originally posted November 23rd: Heidi Klum, 33, and Seal, 43, welcomed their third child and second son yesterday at 5:01pm in Los Angeles. Johan Riley Fyodor Taiwo Samuel weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces.  Their two other children are Leni, 2 1/2 and Henry, 14 months. Seal posted the following message on Heidi's official website:

To our children, a brother
To our parents, a grandson
To my wife and I, a son
To our family, a blessing.


He is healthy, beautiful and looks just like his mother.

Source: Heidi's Official Website and Seal's Official Site

Thanks to CBB readers Alexandra, Tracey, Danielle, Boulder, Magda, Jennifer, and Babs.


Posted on Nov 23, 06 at 06:21 AM in It's a boy!, Names, Unusual names | Link | Comments (65) | | Email this post

Your Comments

Congratulations to this wonderful family!
I'm loving the name. I guess they'll pronounce it the German way (YO-hahn)?

Posted by: Anna at Nov 23, 2006 7:09:52 AM

What wonderful news!

Congratulations to Heidi, Seal, Henry & Leni on the birth of their new family member!

I love his name, it sounds very distinguished. I am anxious to find out the meaning behind it like we did with Henry's.


Does anyone know what Leni's middle name(S) is?

Posted by: Drysdale at Nov 23, 2006 7:17:59 AM

Aww, I think it's nice that they chose a german name for their newest arrival!

Posted by: jillibug at Nov 23, 2006 7:24:37 AM

Congrats!! I love this couple and family and I am soo extremely happy for them! I like the name as it reflects both their backgrounds. I can't wait to see this little one.

Posted by: Izzie25 at Nov 23, 2006 7:35:10 AM

Another boy!!! Congratulations to Heidi and Seal, they are such a lovey couple.

Posted by: Angela at Nov 23, 2006 7:55:21 AM

Congrats to them and their family. Love the name too.

Posted by: Michele at Nov 23, 2006 8:00:48 AM

Congrats to them and their family. Love the name too.

Posted by: Michelle at Nov 23, 2006 8:03:01 AM

Heidi has always referred to Leni, as "Leni Klum" so as far as we know she does not have any middle names and goes by Heidi's last name.

Posted by: Shannon CBB contributor at Nov 23, 2006 8:08:35 AM

Does anyone remember how much Leni & Henry weighed when they were born?

Congrats- they are such a sweet couple!

Posted by: Lynn at Nov 23, 2006 10:51:49 AM

Rumor was right back in the summer, when it slipped Seal said a boy in concert. I bet they knew it was a boy, because I kept hearing those rumors all along. Anyway cute name, and that's cute he looks like Heidi. Leni now has two brothers.

Posted by: gabriella at Nov 23, 2006 11:02:50 AM

Congrats Seal and Heidi!

Posted by: Jess at Nov 23, 2006 11:40:40 AM

Henry is a little Seal, so I can't wait to see Johan's resemblance to Heidi. I'm shocked, though-I would've lost money betting there was a little girl in there!
Congrats to the family!

Posted by: Lauren at Nov 23, 2006 11:57:40 AM

Congratulations!
So now Heidi has a German-Italian daughter, and two German-Nigerian (I once read Seal is Yoruba) sons - what a beautiful family!

And I like Johan's name.

Posted by: Hilde at Nov 23, 2006 12:29:36 PM

You're right. They pronounce german. It's a wonderful name.Love it just i love henry and leni

Posted by: Kim at Nov 23, 2006 12:31:34 PM

i wanted the baby to be a girl!!!
good luck to Leni!
by the way Johan is not a german name.
Anyway, i'm so HAPPY for them, and i can't wait to see a picture of little Johan!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Helene at Nov 23, 2006 12:48:48 PM

Congrats to the family. Johan is a nice name. I can't wait to see the pics. I bet he's a cutie.

Posted by: Angie at Nov 23, 2006 1:09:14 PM

Love the name! Congats and well wishes Heidi and Seal...

Posted by: Denise Briggs at Nov 23, 2006 1:33:56 PM

I'm so happy for them! The boy has such a long name! I like Johan, and yes, it's spelled YO-hahn. Congrats Heidi and Seal

Posted by: Ana at Nov 23, 2006 2:03:34 PM

I'm pretty sure that Leni's full name is Helene Kaffes Klum.

Posted by: Danielle at Nov 23, 2006 2:46:44 PM

I was secretly hoping for a girl but I'm happy for the couple. 3 kids under 2 ....wow! good luck 2 them.

Posted by: joy at Nov 23, 2006 3:42:52 PM

WONDERFUL!!! Congrats to them!! Love the name! =)

Posted by: Erin at Nov 23, 2006 3:47:08 PM

@Helene:
Yes, it is. It's just that the spelling is a little more common in the Netherlands and in Belgium. In Germany, people usually spell it "Johann". However, you'll also find Johan with one 'n' in Germany, especially in the North.

Posted by: Anna at Nov 23, 2006 3:56:06 PM

Awwwwwwwwwwwww congrats, I'm really happy for the little family!

Posted by: Émily at Nov 23, 2006 5:17:11 PM

Johan IS a German name aswell as a Swedish name.

I like the name...the full name is a mouth full but it's cute.

Posted by: Heather at Nov 23, 2006 6:43:44 PM

Taye Taiwo is a Nigerian-born soccer player who now plays for Marseille. Maybe Seal and/or Heidi are soccer fans?

Posted by: Aurora at Nov 23, 2006 7:08:56 PM

danielle are you sure or are you speculating on leni full name???

well congratulation i can't wait for see baby pics

Posted by: denisse at Nov 23, 2006 7:31:06 PM

Congratulations to them! I love the names, I bet they have good meanings like Henry's. If there will be CBB awards, I would vote for this family as my favourite family! I'd love to see a photo of all of them.

Posted by: fumar at Nov 23, 2006 7:49:15 PM

Lynn: Leni weighed 7lbs. 14oz. and Henry weighed 8lbs. 9oz.

Posted by: Gemma at Nov 23, 2006 10:18:05 PM

Aww! Another boy! I was one of the ones hoping for a girl this time, but I'm already in love with this baby. I'm not the least bit surprised at his mouthful of a name. But it's a great name. Can't wait to see him. :)♥

There's always hope for a girl later on down the road...if they ever decide to have another. :)

Posted by: FC at Nov 23, 2006 10:44:15 PM

hi on seal's web site there are more things writes about his new son so visit

Posted by: jd at Nov 24, 2006 2:09:42 AM

This is such wonderful news! Congrats to them!

It must be nice for them that one of their (bio) children together looks like him (Henry) and one like her (Johan). It's the same for my sister and me. I look like my dad but she looks like my mom. In any event, they have a beautiful family and I can't wait to see the new addition!

Posted by: Zoey at Nov 24, 2006 2:27:27 AM

Congratulations Seal and Heidi!!!! Welcome to the world Johan!! :)

Posted by: Barbara at Nov 24, 2006 3:07:23 AM

In reference to the above, according to Seal's official bio, he is of Nigerian and Brazilian ancestry, so that makes the boys 1/3 each of Nigerian, Brazilian, and German - nice!!!!!

Posted by: Courtney at Nov 24, 2006 8:08:39 AM

Seal is from from the UK. His father was from Nigeria but Seal is not from Nigeria.

Posted by: latisha at Nov 24, 2006 8:56:17 AM

I think they are a lovely family but just to be a pedant I always thought Seal was English.

Posted by: Lisa B at Nov 24, 2006 9:22:41 AM

I'm from Holland and Johan (with one 'n') is a common name in the Netherlands, but these days it's very old-fashioned. I did a little research and last year only 15 babies were given this name.

Posted by: Marilyn at Nov 24, 2006 10:09:11 AM

"Johan IS a German name aswell as a Swedish name."

No, Johan is not specifically a Swedish or German name. It's very common in the entire Scandinavia area as well as Finland, Germany and in Czechoslovakia.

Congrats to Heidi and Seal!

Posted by: Hea at Nov 24, 2006 11:43:17 AM

Johan is a nordic and german version of the name Johannes, a hebrew name that means "The Lord is gracious". In englishspeaking countries it's more common to use John og Johnny, both names are versions of Johannes.

Hope you find this useful :)

Posted by: Tuva at Nov 24, 2006 1:49:37 PM

who made fun of the name "helene", it's a beautifu name and i hope that it's Leni real name, but i still really love the name LENI, IT'S THE CUTEST.
do you think Leni's father sees her sometimes?
he's such a jerkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk, Seal makes a better FATHER to Leni

Posted by: Helene at Nov 24, 2006 1:49:57 PM

Heidi and Seal are by far my favorite celebrity mom and dad! I had a feeling it was another boy. Congrats to this beautiful family of FIVE!

Posted by: Kendrajoi at Nov 24, 2006 2:06:59 PM

Johan(n) is of German origin.

Posted by: Maggie at Nov 24, 2006 3:39:17 PM

Oh my goodness-I posted a comment on Seal's blog yesterday saying that since Henry is Seal's mini-me, I can't wait to see how Johan resembles his mother, among other things. I think I am the "Lauren" Seal is referring to in this post! Aaaagh!!

Posted by: Lauren at Nov 24, 2006 4:39:12 PM

Actually, I have friends in Germany and they all say the name is spelled "Johann" (pronounced "Yohann") there, and it's the German form of "John". Or in the north of Germany they sometimes use the nordic variety "Jan" (pronounced Yahn). Johan with only one "n" is def. scandinavian or czech...

Posted by: pink.lioness at Nov 24, 2006 5:54:10 PM

Okey, why does my comments always get postet under someone elses name? I wrote about the name Johan, not Hea.

Tuva

Posted by: Tuva at Nov 24, 2006 6:26:16 PM

Another son has arrived for the Klums!!! Makes it to two little boys and one girl. Cute!!! I really didn't care if it was a boy or girl, at least having a baby is all that matters. Now Leni has two little brothers to have little "pep" fights with! Good luck and congrats!!!

Posted by: J.J. at Nov 24, 2006 6:51:48 PM

Heidi's said her grandmother's name is Helene with the nickname Leni so I always assumed Leni's real name was Helene.

Posted by: elle at Nov 24, 2006 10:14:30 PM

Fyodor = Theodore

Posted by: eishk at Nov 24, 2006 10:24:35 PM

Leni's name is Helene, so I don't think that is it for her name; it's not just Leni Klum. UNLESS Klum was her middle name and Britorre (or however you spell it) was supposed to be her last name.

Anyway, congrats to the happy family! I am thrilled for Heidi, Seal, Leni and Henry. I am sure Johan is adorable! And that's a whole lotta name!

Posted by: editorjax at Nov 24, 2006 11:21:02 PM

"Okey, why does my comments always get postet under someone elses name? I wrote about the name Johan, not Hea.

Tuva"

Eh, yes I did so... what's the problem?

Posted by: Hea at Nov 25, 2006 5:15:45 AM

Seal's sweet comments have me crying, what a wonderful dad he is! So nice for Henry to have a little brother.

Posted by: Leslie at Nov 25, 2006 8:56:20 AM

i'm so glad!
my name is Helene (helen) and i never thought that a celec mon will name her childl like that!
now i LLLLOOOOOVVVVEE my name as long as it's leni's name!
I WANT TO SEE A PICTURE, PLEASE!! IT'S BEEEN 3 DAYS SINCE THIS LITTLE BOY WAS BORN !!!!!

Posted by: helene at Nov 25, 2006 12:23:06 PM

I wish the family much happiness and success. I am curious though why some other families get criticized about their family size and the closesness of the children's ages. You see posts saying certain couples shouldnt adopt more or have another baby yet cause they need to spend time with the ones they have and yet, here is Heidi with three babies in less than three years. Dont get me wrong, I think it is up to the family what size family they have and when to add to the family. I just wonder why the double standard.

Posted by: alana at Nov 25, 2006 3:19:53 PM

I wonder with the twin name if she was pregnant with twins early on and lost one?

Congrats to the beautiful family.

Posted by: Kulia at Nov 25, 2006 5:08:05 PM

The c-section might have been because of the baby's size. A close to 9 pound baby would have been awfully hard for that tiny woman to birth.

Posted by: Mo at Nov 25, 2006 6:30:58 PM

That name is DEFINITLY unique, but nice. Heidi is so pretty anyways it wouldn't matter what she named her kids.

Posted by: Emelita at Nov 25, 2006 8:20:20 PM

Mo, I doubt Heidi's c-section was due to an 8 lb baby. This was her third and an almost-9 lb baby isn't really that big anyway. I suspect that since she went past her due date she chose to be induced which is a leading cause of c-sections.

Whatever the reason, it's got to be hard to have your third child be surgically delivered after having two vaginally, both the physical recovery and psychological recovery from that is going to be rough.

Posted by: yogadaisy at Nov 26, 2006 12:36:19 AM

Just to speak again about the name of that new (wonderful I'm sure) baby ; Johan is just like John in english, Jean in french, Juha (or Juhani) in finnish, Giovanni in italian, Juan in spanish ; but in german is alaways written with 2 "n", with 1 "n" it's more in danish, dutch or swedish...

Posted by: Bénédicte at Nov 26, 2006 9:07:07 AM

She didn't go past though - she was due Friday and the baby was born Tuesday, so three days early. She was early with Leni too, and late with Henry.

Posted by: Sarah, CBB News Editor at Nov 26, 2006 11:47:43 AM

Yogadaisy, for what it's worth, I had both a vaginal delivery and a c-section, and at least in my case, the c-section experience and recovery were much, much better.

Posted by: Kate at Nov 26, 2006 1:40:44 PM

Congratulations Heidi, Seal, Leni and Henry!! I love your family and wish you all well. God Bless

Posted by: Barbara at Nov 27, 2006 2:20:24 AM

Leni doesn't have a middle name.

Posted by: Barbara at Nov 27, 2006 2:22:17 AM

I don't know if it is the case or not, that Leni's name is JUST Leni Klum- but with my experiences living in Germany, it is much more common than not for german children to only have a first and last name ( no middle) So much so that on the birth certificate application ( at least here in Bavaria where my daughter was born) there is no place to fill in for a middle name- just first and surname...

Posted by: Heather at Nov 27, 2006 10:10:08 AM

Heather: That´s not true. Most German people I know have middle names, but it´s true, it´s more common to not have one than in the US.
Danielle: Even if Lenis middle name is not Kaffes, what does the Kaffes mean? Is that a surname or a firstname? I have never heard it.

Posted by: Lana at Nov 27, 2006 1:08:51 PM

I am very curious about the NAMING (IF YOU WILL)... Leni, Suri, and I'm sure there are MANY MANY other children.... Anyone have any insight why one child may have 5, 4, 3, 2, or just 1 name?

Posted by: Campbell at Nov 28, 2006 12:00:21 AM

Congratulations to both Heidi and Seal. I love them as a couple i really think they are wonderful for each other. Just a note though to those who do not know that Johan is quite a popular name from where I am from. (South Africa) I recently watched e news where I heard them pronounce it incorrectly. You pronounce the name like YOU-HUN thats what johan sounds like. It is popular here as an Afrikaans name which is a language here that is very similar to Dutch and German.

Posted by: Candice at Nov 29, 2006 2:18:22 AM

Post a comment

Comments are moderated, and will not appear until the site staff has approved them.

The following types of comments will not be posted:

  • anything that insults the CBB staff, CBB readers or celebrities. In general, a comment that includes "I'm sorry but..." or "She's cute but..." tend to be negative and/or insulting.
  • any type of discrimination in the discussions, including but not limited to racism, heterosexism, classism, religious bigotry, or discrimination toward the disabled.
  • We will not host discussions that involve explicit sexual references and are cautious about discussions on volatile topics such as abortion, religion, and race.
  • inflammatory remarks (intentional or otherwise), anything that we believe may provoke a fight.
  • advertising and spam.
  • off-topic and completely unrelated to the post.

Feel free to agree or disagree with each other as long as you do it respectfully. Please remember that there are people on the other end reading what you write. Celebrities do read the site, but so do regular people, and we all have our own experiences and perspectives. Please be respectful of that.

Bottom line: Ask yourself, "Would I be comfortable saying this to the person's face?" If you're not sure, then don't post it.

If you have a question that you would like the staff to answer, please email questionsATcelebrity-babies.com (replace AT with @). Due to sheer volume of the number of questions asked, we cannot respond to questions asked in the comment section.

Are you familiar with our site ground rules?


Comments are moderated, and will not appear on this weblog until the author has approved them.

If you have a TypeKey or TypePad account, please Sign In

URL: