The Real Reason Jamie Otis Changed Her Baby's Name - Exclusive
We all swooned a little when former Bachelor contestant Jamie Otis found true love with Doug Hehner during the pilot season of Married at First Sight in 2014. After an initial period of awkwardness — Jamie wasn't sure at first that she and Doug had chemistry — the two gradually connected, and their marriage bloomed. This reality TV romance success story welcomed daughter Henley Grace in 2017. Then Jamie and Doug's son was born — at home — on May 13. And in typical Jamie fashion of not being quite sure of things at first, she and Doug ended up changing the newborn's name.
In an exclusive interview with The List, Jamie explained how a little boy who was supposed to be named Hayes ended up being called Hendrix instead.
Jamie Otis and Doug Hehner wanted a meaningful name for their baby boy
"Yeah, so we really couldn't decide on a name for a really long time. I mean, we really could not figure out what his name was going to be," Jamie told The List. That's because this name had to accomplish a lot, she explained. "I wanted something meaningful. We wanted something cute, too. And we wanted something that would have a nickname... I mean it's really hard naming a baby. It's the first thing you give your child that lasts them for their whole entire lives. You just want it to be perfect for them."
Prior to their son's arrival, Doug and Jamie had narrowed down the options Hayes or Hendrix. "And then we decided Hayes was the name. We really liked it. We called him Hayes. We have a pillow with Hayes on it. We have a plaque with Hayes on it," Jamie said. But then her bundle of joy arrived, and everything changed. "The minute I held him," Jamie said, "I almost blurted out Hendrix. And I was like, 'Oh my goodness, that wasn't the name we chose.'"
Jamie was hesitant to change her son's name
At first Jamie kept this change of heart to herself — but then she overheard Doug refer to him by the name Hendrix, too. "And I was like, 'Oh my God, I almost called him Hendrix,'" Jamie recalls telling her husband. "I was like, 'I can't believe that.'"
Jamie decided the fact that she and Doug had both independently arrived at the conclusion that Hayes was the wrong name for their new arrival had to mean something. "Or I don't know, I guess we just really connected with Hendrix," she surmised. "And so he was instantly like, 'It has to be Hendrix.'"
But Jamie worried that they'd already invested too much emotionally into the idea that their son would be called Hayes. At the very least, they'd already decorated their nursery with every expectation that one day a little boy named Hayes would live in it. "I was like, 'Well, wait a minute. We can't just change it to Hendrix. We have this plaque, we have a pillow. And we told everybody. Everybody's expecting Hayes.'" Jamie recounted.
Doug was really set on the name Hendrix
But Doug insisted. "He was like, 'But he's such a Hendrix.'" Jamie said. "And I was like, 'Are we sure we want to do this? I'm not sure about this.'" There was no changing Doug's mind at this point. "And my husband, he was just dead set on it," Jamie said. "Like, 'He's a Hendrix.'"
So the deal was done. Does Jamie have any regrets? Nope. "We love that name," she insisted. "And now I can't imagine calling him Hayes. He's such a Hendrix! It just fits him better, I guess. So, no regrets with that whatsoever."
Now the family of four just needs to befriend someone with the name Hayes... so they can find a good use for the pillows and plaques, of course.