Actress Zoe Tuckwell-Smith, and her partner, actor Damon Gameau, welcomed their first child last November, and have named their daughter Velvet. Velvet Gameau’s birth and name were announced on Instagram.
Zoe is a NIDA graduate, and has been appearing in films and on television since 2004. She is best known for starring as Rebecca “Bec” Gilbert on the popular drama series Winners and Losers, which has made her a household name.
Damon is also a NIDA graduate who appeared in the award-winning drama series Love My Way, and the true crime mini-series Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities. He has had a small part on US sit-com How I Met Your Mother, and was a regular on Irish drama series RAW. He has appeared in films The Tracker, Balibo and Thunderstruck, and received a Best Actor Award at the Sydney Underground Film Festival for his role in Vermin. Damon is also a film director, and his films One and Animal Beatbox have been shown at Tropfest, with Animal Beatbox taking the top prize.
Velvet is a luxurious baby name I covered this year (around the time of Velvet Gameau’s birth), and I’m interested to see whether more people might be tempted to choose this name now. It’s certainly a great way to start off the baby naming year!
(Photo of Zoe and Damon at Tropfest from Zimbio)
Waltzing More Than Matilda 
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I think this is a really cute alternative to Violet, which has been on my favorites list since I was a preteen. I can definitely picture a sweet little girl with this name 🙂
The name also reminded me that Abby Sandel from Appellation Mountain has tipped -et names for girls as a trend for 2014. Velvet fits in with that perfectly.
Points for originality, but I hate it. Instantly it makes me think of a swatch of tacky blue crushed velvet. I don’t like the way it sounds when I say it, and I just can not picture it on a girl or grown woman. I rarely have such strong reactions to names, but this one for me feels all wrong. Possible nicknames are ok though, I don’t mind Vel or Vella.
Yes it’s a very polarising name – I can see that some people just don’t have good associations for the fabric velvet. Vella is cute though.
Ooh, Velvet – how lovely and daring! Very romantic sounding with her surname 🙂
I thought it sounded very pretty and romantic with the surname too … have rarely seen a name with such even votes for almost every option – the only thing it definitely isn’t is “okay”! It’s not wishy-washy, anyway.