The Real Meaning Of Teddi Mellencamp's New Baby's Name
Teddi Mellencamp, star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (and daughter of '80s rocker John Mellencamp) recently gave birth to her third child — and also announced the winning candidate for the new baby's name. A few months ago Teddi asked her Instagram followers to help her select from one of one of her top four names for the baby girl she was expecting: Presley, Shay, Selena, and Dove. Well, a few days ago, on Mardi Gras, as it happened, another Instagram post brought some news more joyful than a parade down Canal Street: Mellencamp and hubby Edwin Arroyave announced the addition of a new little Dove to their family nest.
The significance of Baby Dove's moniker
While the name Dove is new to the Mellencamp/Arroyove household, Nameberry reveals that it has actually been used as a girl's name since the 17th century. In fact, Dove was the name of one of the ships that sailed from England in 1633 to found the colony of Maryland (via Historic St. Mary's City). While "Mayflower" never really seemed to catch on among the babies of the Massachusetts colony, Dove is admittedly a much prettier name.
The dove as a symbol dates back even farther, all the way to Old Testament times, as in the story of Noah's ark. As Bible Gateway relates, Noah sent a dove out from the ark to see if it could find land. When that bird returned with an olive branch in its beak, Noah knew that God had forgiven the sinful humans, and would allow them to make landfall at last in their floating zoo. Ever since that time, doves (and olive branches) have been associated with peace.
Doves have also long been an emblem of love. While this may be largely due to their association with the Greek goddess Aphrodite, LiveScience also observes that doves are relatively monogamous, at least as far as birds go. (Not so much so as the whooping crane, the Audubon Society would have you know, but again... not such a cute name.)
A handle that means peace and love, and is also short, sweet, and easy to spell... looks like little Dove's mommy (or her Instagram fans) couldn't have picked a nicer name.