Amber Heard's Baby Name: 'Oonagh' Meaning Explained

Amber Heard surprised her 3.9 million Instagram followers on Thursday when she announced that she had become a first-time mother.

Sharing a snapshot of herself cradling her baby on her chest, the Aquaman star introduced her 12-week-old daughter, Oonagh Paige, to the world.

In an accompanying caption, the 35-year-old actress explained that the baby's arrival had come four years after she decided to become a mother "on my own terms."

She wrote: "I'm so excited to share this news with you. Four years ago, I decided I wanted to have a child. I wanted to do it on my own terms.

"I now appreciate how radical it is for us as women to think about one of the most fundamental parts of our destinies in this way. I hope we arrive at a point in which it's normalized to not want a ring in order to have a crib."

She continued: "A part of me wants to uphold that my private life is none of anyone's business.

"I also get that the nature of my job compels me to take control of this. My daughter was born on April 8, 2021. Her name is Oonagh Paige Heard. She's the beginning of the rest of my life."

The baby's first name, which is also spelled Úna or Oona, is said to be derived from the Irish word "uan," meaning lamb. There has also been speculation that it has roots in the Latin word for one—"unus"—so it is sometimes translated as "Unity," according to the website Irish Central.

In Irish folklore, Oonagh was the Queen of Fairies, with long, golden hair that flowed to the ground.

The baby's middle name appears to be a tribute to the actress' late mother, Paige, whose death she announced in May 2020.

Sharing a pair of snapshots of herself with her mother, Heard wrote at the time: "I am heartbroken and devastated beyond belief at the loss of my mom, Paige Heard. She left us too early, clasping onto the memory of her beautiful, gentle soul. She will be missed from the very depths of our hearts forever.

"Her unflinching, open heart made her the most beautiful woman I had ever known. It's hard to imagine and even more difficult to say but I feel truly lucky to have been her daughter and been given the gift of having the light she shone on everyone, fall on me for nearly 34 years."

The Texas-born actress has shared her baby news as she begins work on the comic book sequel Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom, in which she plays Mera.

Heard is currently in a legal battle with her ex-husband Johnny Depp, after both made allegations of domestic violence about the other. They both deny the claims. Depp's defamation case against Heard has been delayed to April 2022, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a related courtroom showdown, Depp lost a high-profile libel case against The Sun newspaper in November 2020. The British tabloid had described him as a "wife beater" in a 2018 article.

Following his split from partner Vanessa Paradis in 2012, Depp embarked on a romance with Heard, with whom he had worked on the 2011 film The Rum Diary.

They married in February 2015, but Heard filed for divorce in May 2016. Their divorce was finalized in January 2017.