It's been an entire week since she gave birth to her second child and everyone has been anxiously waiting to see what Jessa Duggar would name her newborn son, and on Monday, the mother of two finally revealed her and husband Ben Seewald's choice. Like big brother Spurgeon Elliot before him, the little guy has a very grown up name: Henry Wilberforce. Sounds dignified, right?
He is named after William Wilberforce, who was a British philosopher and politician instrumental in ending the slave trade to Britain. So not only is it a big name, it's an inspiring one, too. Ben told People that they chose Henry simply because Jessa "really liked it." Sometimes, there doesn't have to be a reason for a name other than that. Ben added that they weren't totally bailing on the whole namesake thing. “We just thought it was cute, but also there was another great man of God name Matthew Henry who lived before Wilberforce and he wrote a lot of great commentaries,” he said.
These Duggars really go all out when it comes to naming their children. Their first son, now a year old, is named after Charles Spurgeon, a preacher who lived from 1834-1892. His second name, Elliot, is after Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, who were missionaries that spent most of their time in South America.
If all that sounds like a mouthful, the Duggars call their first born Quincy — just because. No word yet if Henry Wilberforce will have a shortened name, though he doesn't really need one as much as Spurgeon does, since Henry is pretty simple. Spurgeon isn't a bad name — it's actually a great choice, given its background — but Quincy might get him through recess a little easier.
Jessa gave birth to little Henry last week. The couple announced the birth on social media saying, "Mom and baby are both doing well. We are so thankful to God for this precious new gift of life and are excited to be a family of four!” In a video message on their website, Jessa added:
We are so excited to introduce our little baby boy to the world. I think it’s really awesome that we have two little boys so close together in age. I know they’re going to be best friends and love growing up and doing everything together, so I’m looking forward to seeing that. I know Ben’s probably going to have them out in the backyard playing football in the next couple of years!
Although the Duggars are all about family, Jessa joked that she was feeling pretty hopeless (and other things) during labor. She joked that, during Spurgeon's birth, she told her husband that they would be adopting any future children. And if that happens, there are tons of preachers and missionaries out there to name them after.
