Ryan Reynolds fears his daughter will exact "psychic pain" on him if he reveals her name.

Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds

The 38-year-old actor and wife Blake Lively welcomed their first child into the world in December but have refused to confirm many details about the little girl - who is rumoured to be named James - and the 'Woman in Gold' hunk insists they are keeping things private because they are worried about the repercussions in the future.

Ryan said: "There's zero secret about it.

"That little girl will grow up to be a teenager who will find out that I blurted her name out on national television and probably make me pay for it. She will exact her revenge in searing, psychic pain."

Ryan and his 27-year-old wife - who married in a secret ceremony in September 2012 - accept they get a lot of attention because of their celebrity status and are fine about it because they "signed up for this", but believe they do have some control over their personal lives.

He added to the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: "When you put yourself in the public eye you have to accept certain aspects of it.

"I think to some degree if you don't court it you don't have to deal with it so much."

The 'Adventureland' actor adores parenthood but recently admitted he is feeling very tired because his baby doesn't sleep very much.

He said: "Our baby in particular is, we think, allergic to sleep.

"We joke that she ... thinks that she's keeping us [safe].

"She's protecting us from the sleep monsters. She's like, 'Oh, I gotta keep them up or the sleep monsters will get them.'"