Jessa Duggar Announces Name of Her Sixth Child with Ben Seewald
The name chosen by Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald for their sixth baby is truly regal.
Duggar, 32, and Seewald, 30, unveiled their newborn son’s name in the fourth part of the 19 Kids and Counting alum’s birth vlog series, which was shared via YouTube on Monday, August 11.
“Edward Owen,” Seewald announced on camera.
Duggar noted that their five older children — son Spurgeon, 9, son Henry, 8, daughter Ivy, 5, daughter Fern, 3, and son George, 20 months — are “very excited” because they had been “rooting for Edward.”
Seewald explained their choice of name: “We liked the sound of Edward quite early in this pregnancy. We’re also fans of historical names. Edward carries historical significance — Jonathan Edwards and King Edward VI of England. His middle name is Owen, inspired by John Owen, one of my favorite theologians.”
Despite their affinity for the name Edward, the couple didn’t decide on it immediately. In fact, they brought their baby boy home from the hospital without a name.
“They informed us we had about six days to choose a name before they needed to process the birth certificate paperwork,” Duggar recounted, mentioning they couldn’t decide among Owen, Calvin, and Edward.
“Ben suggested we could try out each of our top three names for a day or two to see which one feels most natural,” she added.
Seewald later remarked, “Sometimes you need to see their face and even test out names for a few days. But we finally made our decision.”
This isn’t the first instance where the couple has used this approach, as Duggar noted in the video that Edward, like Spurgeon and Henry, received his name at 5 days old.
Duggar revealed the birth of baby No. 6 in another YouTube video on August 4.
“When the baby was born and everything was okay, I just sobbed like a baby. I cried,” she said. “We both cried. The baby’s crying, I’m crying. It was such a beautiful moment, and we’re incredibly thankful.”
Duggar and Seewald welcomed their little one on August 2 after 7.5 hours of labor. She teased that she would disclose the gender and name in her next video.
Seewald started courting Duggar in the fall of 2013, and the couple got engaged 11 months later. They married in November 2014. They welcomed Spurgeon in November 2015, followed by Henry in February 2017, Ivy in May 2019, Fern in July 2021, and George in December 2023.
Duggar experienced pregnancy losses in 2020 and 2022. A few months after announcing her pregnancy in March, she shared with sisters Jinger Duggar and Joy-Anna Duggar about the difficulty of feeling “emotionally invested” this time around.
“I think it’s hard to allow yourself, early on, to get excited when you see that positive pregnancy test because you feel like you’re bracing yourself. You think, ‘This may go like it did last time,’” Jessa expressed on Jinger and husband Jeremy Vuolo’s “Jinger & Jeremy” podcast in July.
However, Jessa acknowledged that her miscarriages made her “a lot more grateful” for the children she has.
“I took much less for granted,” she explained. “You know, when those pregnancy symptoms, like nausea, extended into the second trimester with one of my babies, I thought, ‘This is lasting a long time.’ But then I reminded myself, ‘It stopped short with the other baby that I lost. I wouldn’t change it for anything.’ I’m thankful for even the tough parts of pregnancy because your baby is still there, and you’re still pregnant. I feel like it has made me much more appreciative and made me cherish life even more.”
