Whether the name was inspired by Queensland, or is from African tradition, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban look set to start a new trend by calling their daughter Sunday.

Little Sunday Rose Kidman Urban entered the world in a Nashville, Tennessee, hospital to the cheers and best wishes of family, friends and fans of the actor and her singer husband.

Kidman, aged 41 and after two failed pregnancies, delivered her 3.04kg daughter late yesterday Canberra time with Urban by her side.

Her sister, Antonia, and mother, Janelle, were not far away.

Urban, the award-winning country music star, announced on his website, ''Earlier this morning, Nic gave birth to our beautiful baby girl, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban.

''We want to thank everybody that has kept us in their thoughts and prayers. We feel very blessed and grateful that we can share this joy with you today.''

Antonia Kidman added, ''The birth of Nicole and Keith's daughter is such wonderful news and a beautiful addition to our family. We're all absolutely thrilled with the new arrival.''

The actor's father, Antony, stayed at home in Sydney to look after Antonia's four children.

Kidman, an Oscar winner for The Hours in 2003, has talked for years about her desire to give birth, particularly after her romantic harbourside wedding to the New Zealand-born, Queensland-raised country crooner Urban, which took place on June 25, 2006.

The actress has told of miscarriages during her failed marriage to Tom Cruise, with whom she adopted Isabella, now 15, and Connor, now 13.

Kidman disclosed last month how she burst into tears the first time she saw the image of Sunday during a check-up with her doctor.

''I didn't think I'd get to experience that in my lifetime,'' she said.

The couple's decision to name their daughter Sunday immediately set tongues wagging.

The name does not appear among the thousands of possible girl names on popular baby websites.

Sunday wasn't even born on Sunday, but on a Monday in the US.

A US student of names suggested it might follow a tradition used by ancient African tribes in giving their offspring a ''word name''.

Other reports speculated that it might have been have been inspired by Queensland's Whitsundays, where Kidman celebrated her 40th birthday.

Either way, Kidman and Urban look set to lead a new trend in baby names.

The co-author of Cool Names and The Baby Name Bible, Pam Satran, said, ''Sunday is one of the next generation of word names.'' AAP