SUCCESSFUL careers have not stopped Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds from growing their family.
Ever since Blake and Ryan tied the knot a decade ago, fans have been curious to know how many kids the Hollywood pair has and what their family life is like.
How many kids do Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have?
On October 6, 2014, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds revealed they were expecting their first child together.
Through a post on the Gossip Girl alum’s now-defunct lifestyle website Preserve, they stated: “With family on our mind, we looked to the origin of it all, to the women in our lives who are right there, at that special moment; at the creation of the family.”
In December 2014, the pair welcomed their daughter James.
Just in time for their four-year marriage anniversary, Blake and Ryan gave birth to their second daughter, Inez, in September 2016.
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At the May 2019 red carpet premiere for Ryan’s film Detective Pikachu, Blake confirmed they had another child on the way with her hard-to-miss baby bump.
The third child in the family, their daughter Betty, was born in October 2019.
Blake and Ryan kept their third baby’s name under wraps until their close friend, Taylor Swift, gave it away in her 2020 song titled Betty.
On September 15, 2022, the couple revealed that they were expecting a fourth child.
While walking the red carpet at New York Fashion Week, Blake appeared visibly pregnant.
Days later on Sunday, September 18, The Rhythm Section star flaunted her fourth baby bump in a series of Instagram posts.
She captioned the post: “Here are photos of me pregnant in real life so the 11 guys waiting outside my home for a sighting will leave me alone.”
The pair never confirmed when their fourth child was born, but Blake Lively did post an Instagram photo sans baby bump in February 2024.
A few months later, a source revealed to InTouch that the duo nicknamed their fourth child “Obi.”
“The couple call their fourth child Obi,” the insider revealed to InTouch.
“It’s short for a longer name and its origin is incredibly deep and meaningful.”
“It’s also a nod to one of the characters in Gossip Girl,” the source continued.
The source was referencing the now-canceled HBO Max reboot, which featured a character named Otto “Obie” Bergman IV.
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What are the meanings behind Blake and Ryan’s kid’s names?
The couple’s four children each have very unique names.
James, Inez, Betty, and the still-rumored Obi.
James, the couple’s oldest daughter, is named after Ryan Reynolds’ father, who passed away shortly after she was born.
“It felt right,” Reynolds explained, adding that before his father died, “he got to see her, which makes me happy,” as reported by People.
Inez, meanwhile, is a name of Portuguese origin, derived from the Latin name, Agnes.
It commonly means “pure,” “chaste,” “holy,” and “sacred.”
The couple’s third child, daughter Betty, is also named after family.
Lively’s father, Ernest Brown Jr., had both a mother and sister named Betty.
“He was known as Ernie Lively,” Blake Lively wrote in a press release, as reported by People.
“He gave up his last name when he married my mom and any success he, or I, have experienced has been in a name that isn’t his.”
“So when I was working hard to build this company, I wanted any success to be in a name that was meaningful to him.”
“Betty was his mom and his sister’s name,” she added, revealing why she chose the moniker for both her third daughter and her company, Betty Buzz.
The couple have yet to officially reveal the name of their fourth child, but sources close to the couple have said the child’s rumored nickname is Obi.
According to Nameberry, the name Obi is a boy’s name of African origin that means “heart.”
During a May 2024 appearance on The Today Show, Reynolds joked about his fourth child’s rumored name.
“We always wait for Taylor to tell us what the child’s name is, and I’ll say this: We’re still waiting,” Reynolds said, laughing.
How long have Blake and Ryan been married?
Ryan and Blake met on set while filming for the 2011 superhero film Green Lantern, in which they both starred together.
Shortly after the film’s release, Reynolds and Lively started dating.
Prior to the two stars dating each other, Reynolds had dated Scarlett Johansson, Sandra Bullock, and Alanis Morissette.
Before her courtship with Reynolds, Lively was in relationships with Leonardo DiCaprio, and her Gossip Girl co-star Penn Badgely.
On September 9, 2012, Reynolds and Lively tied the knot and held their nuptials at Boone Hall Plantation located in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
Months before they disclosed they were expecting their daughter James, the latter expressed a desire to grow their family.
In August 2014, the actress shared with Marie Claire: “I gotta get started. If I could spit out a litter of kids, I would.”