""We get asked often WHY we named all four of our girls Mary," she wrote. "There is a long history of strong Catholic women named Mary on both sides of our families and Brian and I wanted to carry on the tradition with our first baby." She added, "We never thought about the fact we might have FOUR girls, but once we started this trend there was no going back!""
"The oldest Heffernan daughter is MaryFrances Borchard. They wanted to honor Brian's grandmother who had just passed away before the baby was born. The only problem was that his grandmother never liked her own name - Bernice Borchard - so they added the name of the grandmother's sister, Frances, rather than using Bernice. Coincidentally, Mary's great-grandfather was also named Francis."
"They named their second daughter MaryMarjorie Sheehy for Mary's maternalgrandmother, Mary Sheehy, and the grandmother's sister, Marjorie Sheehy. They call her Maisie for short. "Aunt Marge cries every time she sees Maisie, saying how much she looks just like her late sister, " Mary wrote on Instagram."
Brian and Mary Heffernan, a California ranching couple, named all four daughters Mary to honor a multigenerational tradition of strong Catholic women named Mary in both families. The practice began with their first child and continued after multiple daughters arrived. Each daughter receives a different second name drawn from relatives and family names, and each uses a unique nickname to keep them distinct. The oldest is MaryFrances (Francie), the second MaryMarjorie (Maisie), and the third MaryJane Regan, which honors a paternal grandmother and echoes the mother's own middle name. Family members often react emotionally to resemblances.
Read at TODAY.com
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