The Emotional Story Behind How Bill Gates' Son Rory Got His Middle Name

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Choosing the best baby name can be daunting. Is it going to be a classic name? Something more creative and unique? Should it honor a loved one? The final option is what Melinda Gates ultimately went with when she named her son Rory John Gates. It wasn't a family name, but rather the name of a friend. In the philanthropist's 2025 book "The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward," Melinda wrote about her dearly departed best friend John Neilson and why it was important to her that her son bore his name. She met Neilson at Microsoft; they both started working there in 1987. The duo, and their respective spouses, quickly became close friends. 

As Melinda sweetly recalled, "I once told John that next to our children and families, Bill and I considered our relationship with John and Emmy [Neilson] to be one of the most important things in our life." So, when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, it understandably had a massive impact on both Melinda and Bill. Worse, Neilson's disease progressed at the same time that Melinda was pregnant with her son. Before she went to be induced, the expectant mother stopped by his hospice bedside. It was there that she told Neilson that her son would share his name.

John Neilson died in 1999 at the age of 37. Fortunately, he was able to hold Rory John Gates just a few days beforehand. In a 2017 Facebook post about his passing, Melinda reminisced about how emotional she felt at the time, dealing with both Neilson's death and Rory's birth in quick succession. "I'll never forget that time — how the overwhelming happiness of meeting my son gave way to the overwhelming sadness of losing one of the people I loved most in the world," she noted. Melinda being able to give her son her best friend's name was a touching way for the new mom to honor Neilson's memory.

Melinda has three children with her now ex-husband Bill Gates. One thing you probably never knew about Bill and Melinda Gates is that they didn't let their kids use Gates as their last name when they were younger. They used Melinda's maiden name "French" when they were in elementary school to help protect their privacy as the children of, at the time, one of the richest people in the world. They got to choose which surname they used starting in middle school; for his part, Rory chose "French," as Melinda told Elle.