Josh and Anna Duggar decided to name their newborn daughter Meredith Grace Duggar, a moniker that captured the attention of longtime fans of the Duggar family who recall something that Josh said a few years ago on the Today Show .
According to the Duggar Family Blog , Josh and Anna Duggar once told former Today host Meredith Vieira that they might name one of their future children after her. The Duggars used to be pretty regular fixtures on Today . In 2009, Josh and Anna appeared on the show to find out the gender of their first child, Mackynzie, by cutting into a cake that was either pink (for a girl) or blue (for a boy) inside. After revealing the pink cake beneath the frosting, Josh informed Vieira that he and Anna Duggar were thinking about giving all their children “M” names.
“We’ve talked about M’s, so we’re down the right road for Meredith,” Josh joked.
Meredith Vieira responded by letting the former 19 Kids and Counting star know that she would be flattered if he and Anna named their first child after her.
“Don’t pull my leg here! You know I’ve been your biggest fan.”
A month before Mackynzie was born, Meredith Vieira chatted with Josh Duggar again. He and Anna revealed that they were going with a different “M” name, but the couple reassured Meredith that they still wanted to use her moniker someday.
“There is hope for ‘Meredith’ still,” Josh said.
Meredith told the first-time parents that she would be a “very happy person” if they kept their promise to consider her name in the future. However, Josh and Anna’s next two children were boys, Michael (now age 4) and Marcus (now age 2), so they had to wait a few years to fulfill their promise to Vieira.
Fast forward to today, and the birth of Meredith Grace Duggar is much different than that of Mackynzie — Josh and Anna Duggar didn’t get to eat cake on the Today Show , and they’re no longer acting like they’re BFFs with media bigwigs like Vieira. The Duggars had to use their own social media pages to announce Meredith Grace’s birth, and Josh has become a man that the media loves to hate — a Gawker story about the arrival of his fourth child is titled, “Noted Child Molester Josh Duggar Welcomes New Baby Girl Into His Home.”
https://instagram.com/p/5VLALZOWCP/?taken-by=joshduggar
As the Inquisitr previously reported, the shocking revelation that Josh molested four of his sisters ultimately led to the demise of the Duggars’ media empire. The family lost its lucrative reality TV series, 19 Kids and Counting , and it’s unlikely that the Duggars will score many appearances on talk shows now that they’re no longer TV stars. However, some Duggar fans hope that Meredith Vieira will respond to Josh and Anna Duggar’s baby name choice by inviting the couple to appear on her talk show.
Over on The Meredith Vieira Show Facebook page, fans of the Duggars are begging the host to chat with the parents.
“Now that Josh and Anna Duggar have named their baby Meredith, as you once suggested to them, I find it only fitting you should have them on your show,” Dolly Stephens wrote.
Kimberly Christensen Burt tried to tempt Meredith into reaching out to Josh and Anna Duggar by telling her that she’d be “the bravest women in TV” if she sat down with the former reality show stars.
“Meredith, You got your name sake from the Duggar family – Josh and Anna just named their new daughter Meredith Grace Duggar. She is sooooo beautiful!!! I hope you have the forgiving Grace just as their new baby girl’s name says. Maybe you can be the bravest women in TV and have them on your show!!!”
Do you think Josh and Anna Duggar chose the name Meredith in a desperate effort to reach out to a former family supporter who can get them back on TV?
[Image via Duggar Family Facebook ]