Alice Kim and Nicolas Cage

Los Angeles, Oct. 4 (Reuters): Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage’s wife of 14 months gave birth on Monday to the couple’s first child together, a son they named Kal-el ? a moniker recognised by comic book fans as the birth name of Superman.

The child’s delivery in New York City and his full name, Kal-el Coppola Cage, were confirmed by Cage’s publicist, Annett Wolf, who said of the family: “They are healthy and happy and it’s quite lovely.”

No further details were released, including how Cage and his wife, Alice Kim, were inspired to borrow from the mythology of Superman in naming their child.

Cage is known as an avid comic book devotee who once sold his personal collection, including a copy of Superman’s 1938 pulp debut, at auction for more than $1.6 million.

The nephew of famed filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, the actor adopted his stage surname from the Marvel Comics superhero Luke Cage.

Cage also was at one time slated to star in a Superman movie under the direction of Tim Burton, a project that ultimately was scrapped and replaced by a newer Warner Bros. remake expected for release next summer.

The 41-year-old actor and his wife, a former sushi waitress about 20 years his junior, met at a nightclub last year before marrying on July 30, 2004.

Cage has a 15-year-old son, Weston, by a prior relationship with actress Kristina Fulton. His previous marriages to actress Patricia Arquette and singer Lisa Marie Presley ended in divorce. Kal-el is his current wife's first child.

The prolific performer won an Academy Award as best actor for his 1995 role as an alcoholic bent on suicide in“Leaving Las Vegas.” In his latest film,“Lord of War,” he portrays an arms dealer.