Child Identify of the Week August 20: Dorothea

The couple, who reside in Orem, Utah, had already spent months discussing names. But Whitlock stated she was experiencing what she described as resolution fatigue. She beloved the names on their quick checklist, even when she had reservations about a few of them.

Florence, as an example, was out as a result of Whitlock didn’t just like the nickname Flo.

Matilda was more durable to let go. It had been Whitlock’s favourite title for a lot of her being pregnant. But she fearful that the apparent nickname, Tilly, was too near the nickname they use for his or her son Bellamy: Belly.

Then got here Monroe, considered one of Whitlock’s prime three.

And then Vyla.

Vyla had been Whitlock’s favourite title for years and carried a private connection to Vejle, the Danish metropolis the place she had lived. But she additionally felt that it didn’t fairly match with the names she and Robertson had chosen for his or her different kids.

One by one, the names disappeared. The TikTok video, posted in 2025, captures the couple’s rising pressure as they attain the ultimate two.

Whitlock appears nervous. Then she attracts the slip of paper.

“Dorothea.”

“That’s the name I wanted,” Whitlock says and begins to cry.

The second was particularly significant as a result of Dorothea had been her husband’s favourite title all through the being pregnant.

“He was hoping for Dorothea,” Whitlock says. “At the beginning I wasn’t as fond of it, but, like, the last week, I’d say, of my pregnancy, I was starting to kind of picture my baby as Dorothea.”

So when Whitlock pulled the title from the cup, “It felt like it was meant to be almost,” she says.

Dorothea was born in November and is now somewhat over 9 months outdated. Her older siblings, twins Bellamy and Harvey, are about to show 3.

The title itself got here from Robertson, who instructed it after listening to Taylor Swift’s tune “Dorothea,” from her 2020 album evermore.

The couple’s daughter now goes by Dotty, a nickname they each love. If she ultimately decides she has outgrown it, Whitlock stated, they’ll all the time name her Thea.

The response to the title on-line was significantly much less affectionate than the response contained in the hospital room.

“Put it back in the cup and re draw,” one particular person wrote in a remark that acquired greater than 75,000 likes.

Another urged the couple to “make a whole new cup,” whereas another person joked, “Imagine being Dorothea AND your parents picked it from a cup…”

But loads of viewers defended the title, too.

“I’m shocked by these comments lol it’s a nice name,” one particular person wrote. Another referred to as Dorothea “beautiful and timeless.”

One commenter named Dorothea herself wrote, “Dorothea is a beautiful name! I love it.”

Whitlock stated she has gotten higher at tuning out criticism after years of sharing components of her life on social media. If something, the reactions struck her as humorous.

That old school high quality suits the household’s style. Whitlock describes the names she and Robertson gravitate towards as “a little bit definitely old-fashioned,” with a grandparent really feel and, typically, a British high quality.

And if one other child comes alongside sometime?

Whitlock says she would contemplate reaching for the cup once more.