Taylor Hanson and his wife, Natalie, are the proud parents of four beautiful children — and with a fifth on the way, they need some help finding the perfect name for their little girl.
"Thinking back on all the children’s names has helped to give me a fresh perspective in choosing the name for the baby girl we are expecting in the fall," Natalie writes in her Nameberry.com blog.
"It has helped to remind me how the right name seems to come at the right time and how, no matter how 'perfect' the choice, it will only be a part of all this little person will become," she adds.
The couple named their 10-year-old son Jordan Ezra after his father (whose full name is Jordan Taylor Hanson) and the Biblical figure. "I pictured a wise, quirky, old man, and I was sold," Natalie explains of her son's middle name. "In a sea of gender-bender, sort-of-surname peers, Ezra still shines to me as masculine, intellectual, and quietly quirky, and my Ezra wears it well."
Taylor and Natalie decided to name their 7-year-old daughter Penelope Anne "to honor" Natalie's mother, Pamela. "To my ear, Penelope was beautiful, whimsical and fun sounding," the mom-of-four explains of the moniker, also chosen by Kourtney Kardashian for her recently born daughter. "As we mulled over the name for a few months, Penelope seemed more and more perfect, and honestly, we loved Penny too!"
Settling on a name for the couple's third child, River Samuel, was no easy feat. "Taylor brought River to the table right from the get-go. I hesitated at first," Natalie, 28, recalls. "However, River started to grow on me, a lot. I stopped seeing it as just a hippie nature name, and started visualizing the rugged strength of a raging river. When I mentioned the name to my grandfather, he immediately started singing 'Ol' Man River,' which I loved." Now 5, River "certainly fits the image I had of the name," Natalie adds.
When the couple named their fourth child Viggo Moriah, they announced it before his birth on a large whiteboard in the Hanson family kitchen. "No one was so bold as to question it to our faces, but after Viggo was born, the truth came out that the name was definitely in hot debate when we weren't around!"
Since Viggo's birth three years ago, "the perception of his name has turned out better than I had hoped for!" Natalie blogs. "I thought he might have a few years of an awkwardly too cool name before growing into artistic adulthood and fully embracing it. I'm happy to report this assumption was totally wrong! Kids love his name."
"MMMBop" singer Taylor, 29, and Natalie (nee Bryant) tied the knot on June 8, 2002 in Pine Mountain, Georgia. They met after a performance in Atlanta, Georgia in 2000.
