Did you know Dolly Parton is godmother to Miley Cyrus? What should you be looking for in choosing a godparent for your child in 2025?

Are you considering who to ask to be godparent to your newborn, or are you a godparent already? Woman Alive deputy editor, Jemimah Wright, looks at the role, what is important, and what is not. 

I remember when I was at school and preparing for confirmation with many other girls in my year group. Our confirmation classes with the school priest (it was a convent school) seemed to be focused around the practicalities of the confirmation service, and whether our godparents were coming or not. I can’t remember much about the spiritual side of the ceremony.

As a child it feels special to have other adults interested in you, and an extra bonus if they gave nice presents and remember your birthday and Christmas, but there is so much more to a ‘good’ godparent than just gifts. The role comes with both privilege and responsibility.

Singer, Billy Ray Cyrus gave his daughter a corker of a godparent in country-singer-songwriter, Dolly Parton. Dolly said on SiriusXM’s Just Jenny in 2019. “When Miley came along, I said, ‘She’s got to be my fairy goddaughter.’”