Sam Quek used an unlikely way of choosing the baby name for her first-born child, and as she admits she used a hybrid of her two dogs' names.
For most first-time parents, baby names are tricky to decide on as there are millions of options to choose from in the baby name universe from unusual baby names to Royal baby names and even Disney names.
But for this Morning Live presenter and mum-of-two to daughter Molly, two, and Issac 'Zac', one, with husband Tom Mairs, they stumbled on a hybrid name after their two pet Yorkshire Terriers Ollie and Max who are now 14 years old.
Speaking to Goodto on behalf of Haliborange, which is running a campaign that calls for parents to share their Parent Pride moments on social media using the hashtag #EndMumGuilt, Sam revealed, "My daughter's name is a mash-up of our two dogs' names - we were umming and erring over what to call her then we were in the car one day and we were like what about a hybrid of Max and Olly - Molly.
"I was like, I actually, really quite like it."
Before this discovery, Sam and Tom had been using a baby name app that uses a similar concept to Tinder in which parents-to-be swipe left or right for the names they love or dislike.
Sam explained, "You log on and put your other half’s email in and then the accounts match, it’s like Tinder so you swipe for the ones you like and he’ll do his, and at the end, it will show the ones you matched on. Then we started calling the bump the name of some we thought we liked but after a week of calling it a name we were like [unsure]."
And naming children isn't the only thing pets are good for, as a recent survey of 2,000 parents reveals one in three parents say dogs help strengthen family bonds. According to pet insurer MORE THAN and charity Dogs for Good, dogs provide a myriad of benefits to families - from improving mental health (80%) and physical wellbeing (80%) to bringing families closer together (72%).
A similar proportion (73%) also feel their dog has decreased their feelings of stress and anxiety. Moreover, 84% believe their dog provides their family with emotional reassurance during hard times, contributing directly to their family's wellbeing.
But when it came to their second child, they widened the search from pets to relatives.
Sam said, "With Zac, I'd like to say it was organised. Issac has always been there but we call him Zac, whereas Issac was in Tom’s family tree and I quite liked Zac it’s quite cool."
And we couldn't resist asking Sam what her kids might have been called if she hadn't put her foot down.
"Tom liked the name Jennifer because his favourite film was Forrest Gump. He liked that name’s always stuck but I was like 'No'. But Molly was unanimous and Zac was more me, he didn't have a name for the first five days."
Credit: 95% of UK mums admit to feeling mum guilt on a daily basis. Haliborange has teamed up with Olympic Gold Medalist, Sam Quek, to end mum guilt and focus instead on parent pride. Join the pledge by sharing your ‘Parent Pride’ moments on social media, using the hashtag #EndMumGuilt and tagging @haliborangeuk
In other family news, These 6 Wicked-inspired baby names are trending, Hamleys hottest Christmas Toys 2023 have been announced and Amazon's hottest Christmas toy list features Barbie and a 90s throwback. And if you want to read what Sam Quek thinks of perfect parenting you can.
