How Nicole Kidman's Daughter Sunday Rose Got Her Unique Name

Celebrities love giving their kids unique names: like Beyoncé's daughter Blue Ivy, Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter Apple, and Trisha Paytas' daughter Malibu Barbie. Nicole Kidman and ex-husband Keith Urban's eldest daughter's name, Sunday Rose, isn't that unusual (and definitely not as bad as some of the baby names that celebrity parents will regret giving their kids), but it still isn't a name you hear too often. So, it makes us wonder, how did Kidman and Urban come up with the name of their firstborn?

After Sunday was born in July 2008, the first explanation of her name came from her grandfather, Antony Kidman. "There was a lady named Sunday Reed who was a prominent patron of the arts in Victoria, [Australia]," Antony told Australia's Daily Telegraph (per NBC New York). In the interview, Antony revealed that Reed "was a key mover and shaker in the arts around the beginning of the century." It seems the name was in the back of Antony's mind for years, until his daughter welcomed her first child with Urban. "The name Sunday struck me as being a nice name for a woman, so my wife [Nicole's mother] and I mentioned it," Antony added. Considering how Sunday Rose has gone on to live a lavish life and appear in movies and walk runways, it's clear she has a passion for the arts, just like her namesake.

Keith Urban provided further context in a 2009 appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." The country singer shared that he and Kidman "just loved the name of the day" (per People). For Urban, the name Sunday was a sort of tribute to the way his new family transformed his life. "Particularly when you don't have someone in your life, Sunday was like the loneliest day," he said. "Everyone goes with their families, and if you don't have a family, you don't have anybody." But with the birth of his daughter, Sundays would never again be a day to lament. "It went from being sort of the most dreaded day of the week to the most joyous day, because now we have a family," Urban added. 

While Sunday's first name has multiple sources of inspiration, her middle name, Rose, was decidedly from Urban's side of the family. Shane Urban, Keith's brother, explained on an Australian radio show that the name Rose came from their late grandmother, so it was a no-brainer to choose it as Sunday's middle name.

The name Sunday has Latin roots and means "day of the sun," and it's certainly a bright moniker. Sunday was ranked 947 out of the top 1000 baby names for girls in 2025, based on data from the Social Security Administration. Like other rare baby names that seemingly became popular overnight, the name Sunday has seen a rise in popularity since Sunday Rose was born in 2008 — back then, the name hadn't even cracked the Top 1000 list. The name Rose is much more popular, and it was ranked 114 out of the top 1000 baby names in 2025. All in all, Sunday Rose is a beautiful name, and we can see why Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban picked it for their daughter.