What to Know
Having a baby means fielding all kinds of unsolicited opinions about your pregnancy, birth, and new little one in general — and that seems to be particularly true when it comes to your chosen baby name. Just ask Jenna Bush Hager.
On Today With Jenna & Friends, she admitted that mom (and former first lady) Laura Bush tried to get her to change the spelling of her daughter Mila’s name after she was born, and the reason for it is kind of hilarious.
Jenna welcomed her daughter, Mila, in 2013.
Mila, who is now 12, was the first child that Jenna brought into the world with her husband, Henry Hager. Since Mila’s birth in 2013, Jenna has added two more kids to her family: her 10-year-old daughter Poppy and her 6-year-old son Hal.
But as a first time mom, Jenna was met with a surprising request from her mom.
Laura was concerned that the spelling of Mila’s name would confuse people.
While talking to her guest cohost Scarlett Johansson on the show, Jenna said that after Mila arrived, her mom called her saying, “You know, in Texas, they’re calling her Myla, the way you spelled it M-I-L-A.”
As a solution to the problem, Laura suggested that Jenna change the spelling to “M-E-L-A” which might be easier for people to pronounce.
“I was like, you want me to change the spelling of my child’s name because in Texas they’re mispronouncing her name as My-la?” Jenna said.
Scarlett totally understood where Jenna was coming from. “Do you think that would be helpful? I haven’t seen that spelling,” she said. It’s not quite as common as the typical spelling for “Mila” that we usually see — you know, the one that Jenna wanted to use from the beginning.
Needless to say, Jenna did not end up taking her mom’s advice.
Jenna didn’t end up changing Mila’s name, and in the end, it seems like it was for the best; after all, like she pointed out on the show, Mila is a pretty common girls name, so she probably hasn’t run into too many people who can’t pronounce it like her grandma feared she would.
This is just one of those things that many of us will have to deal with at some point while having a child. Fortunately, it sounds like Jenna at least got a funny story out of it!
