NICOLE Richie has given birth to a boy.

NICOLE Richie has given birth to a boy.

The TV star and her Good Charlotte rocker partner Joel Madden, who already have 20-month-old daughter Harlow, welcomed Sparrow James Midnight Madden into the world on Wednesday.

The couple announced on Richie's website: "Nicole, Joel, Harlow and Sparrow are all doing well."

Madden added on Twitter: "1st day of his life and my son is already a trending topic on twitter. That's right son, ur just like your old man. wait, i've never been a #TT (sic)."

Experts claim the couple's choice of name for their son show they are "free spirits" and also keen to give their child a fashionable moniker.

Baby name expert Pamela Redmond Satran said: "Bird names are definitely getting hotter. Of all the animal names, bird names are the hottest.

"It has a spiritual symbolism - they're seen as light, one with the sky and nature and in a more uplifting, positive way than other animals, like a fox, which is more macho."

Richie and Madden had said they were to become parents again in February. - Bang