After starring in the 2011 film Green Lantern together, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively became extremely good friends. That friendship eventually turned into a romantic relationship and in September 2012, the two married in a ‘secret’ ceremony in South Carolina.
Flash forward to 2023, and not only are Ryan and Blake one of the sweetest couples in Hollywood, they share four adorable children.
Of course, Ryan and Blake are extremely – and understandably – private when it comes to their kids. Blake in particular has publicly spoken out many times about how “disturbing” she finds it when paparazzi take pictures of her little ones.
However, the couple do occasionally offer their fans a rare glimpse at their delightful family of six… For example, in October 2023, Ryan told PEOPLE that his favourite part of the day is when he’s with his children. “For me, the best time of my day is walking them to school and walking them back,” he said.
He also candidly shared that he and Blake try to be open with their children in regards to mental health. “I think it’s more about talking to them about everything… It’s genuine when I say I take a huge interest in their days and how things are going.”
Read on to find out more about Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively’s kids.
James Reynolds
In October 2014, Blake announced she and Ryan were expecting their first child via her now-defunct lifestyle website Preserve. The couple then welcomed their bundle of joy in December 2014.
But it wasn’t until March 2015 that we knew the baby’s name and gender. Ryan revealed in an interview with the Today Show that they’d had a little girl and had named her James.
Over the years, Blake and Ryan have shared only a few photos of James, including this one of her hand wrapped around Ryan’s in May 2015.
Oh, and James can be heard saying “gorgeous” at the beginning of Taylor Swift’s 2017 song Gorgeous (Taylor is a close friend of Blake and Ryan).
Inez Reynolds
In September 2016, Blake and Ryan welcomed their second child but again kept the name and gender under wraps.
But in December 2016, Ryan was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and had Blake, James and the newest addition to the family by his side, leading US Weekly to quickly confirm after the event that the baby was a girl named Inez.
Betty Reynolds
In May 2019, Blake and Ryan confirmed they were expecting their third child. While walking the red carpet at the premiere for Ryan’s film Detective Pikachu, Blake showed off her baby bump in a yellow sequin dress.
The couple welcomed said baby in October 2019 but, again, didn’t confirm the name or gender.
However, in July 2020, following the release of Taylor Swift’s album Folklore, fans began to speculate that Blake and Ryan’s third child was named Betty. This is because a song on the album called Betty only features three names in its lyrics: Betty, James and Inez.
Ryan confirmed this was the case in August 2021. Speaking to SiriusXM, he began chatting about Taylor and the conversation soon moved to what he and Blake thought about the song Betty.
“We thought it was pretty damn amazing. We still do,” Ryan said.
“I still walk down the street and shake my head thinking, ‘I can’t believe that happened…’ The names are the names of our kids. We trust her [Taylor] implicitly. She’s very sensitive to any of that stuff.”
Plus, in May 2023, during the Philadelphia leg of the Eras Tour – which Blake, James and Inez attended – Taylor further confirmed the speculations and said to the crowd before performing Betty, “I named the characters [in this song] after real people in my life who I love more than anything. And their names are James, Inez and Betty.”
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ fourth child
In September 2022, Blake attended the Forbes Power Women’s Summit, debuting the baby bump of her and Ryan’s fourth child. However, shortly after the event, Blake took to Instagram to post multiple pregnancy shots to deter paparazzi from staking out her home.
“Here are photos of me pregnant in real life so the 11 guys waiting outside my home for a [unicorn] sighting will leave me alone. You freak me and my kids out. Thanks to everyone else for all the love and respect and for continuing to unfollow accounts and publications who share photos of children. You have all the power against them. And thank you to the media who have a ‘No Kids Policy’. You all make all the difference,” Blake captioned her post.
In February 2023, Blake slyly confirmed the birth of her and Ryan’s fourth child. Again taking to Instagram, she posted a photo of herself no longer pregnant and captioned it, “…Been busy”.
Shortly after that, Ryan spoke to Power Lunch and said, “We’re very excited. Look, we wouldn’t do this four times if we didn’t love it.”
Blake and Ryan are yet to announce the baby’s name and gender, but they brought their fourth little one, along with James, Inez and Betty, to a Wrexham match (Ryan co-owns the football team with Rob McElhenney) in March 2023.
