Cincinnati Zoo’s baby giraffe is named…

CINCINNATI - The Cincinnati Zoo’s newest addition, a baby giraffe, has finally gotten a name Friday morning after the zoo polled Tri-State residents for name suggestions.

The week-old female giraffe is named Lulu — a name the zoo selected after they launched a Facebook contest where Tri-State residents offered their top picks. Lulu received more than half of the about 5,400 votes online with 2,800 votes.

Lulu, which means “precious" in Swahili, was among the top three names selected. Mara — Massai for “spotted” — and Rosie — the well-known female Reds mascot — were the other top names.

The zoo announced the top three picks on Thursday, which gave the public one day to cast their votes on the Cincinnati Zoo Facebook page.

Lulu was born Oct. 12 and is doing well and bonding with her 6-year-old mom, Tessa and her dad, Kimba. Zoo visitors can view the family through windows and a live-feed color monitor set up on the viewing deck. Both Tessa and baby Lulu will be making their outdoor public debut in the coming weeks if weather cooperates.

Lulu is Tessa's second calf. Her first calf, Zuri, was born in April 2011, but died in July 2011 after fracturing her leg at 7-weeks-old.

The campaign to pick the calf’s name through Facebook was not the zoo’s first social media strategy with the giraffe family. Zoo officials live-tweeted Lulu’s birth and posted photos along the way.