“We took some time to settle into our new rhythm before sharing this sweet news.”
Some baby names are just too good not to use twice — or, in this case, four times.
In 2020, Mary Heffernan — a mom of four with her husband Brian — took to Instagram to answer a question she gets asked often when people meet (or hear about) her family.
“Are you really all named MARY? Yup,” she wrote in a caption alongside a photo of her and her four girls.
“And Brian was the one who came up with FIVE MARYS for our brand name when we started ranching seven years ago!” she added of the name her husband chose for their family’s ranch in California.
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Heffernan went on to reveal why she decided to name all four of her daughters Mary.
“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 wrote in 2020.
“We never thought about the fact we might have FOUR girls, but once we started this trend there was no going back!” she added.
More recently, on Nov. 5, Heffernan posted a clip of her family on Facebook and revealed that her daughters each “go by second names or nicknames” to help eliminate any confusion in the household.
In fact, her daughters’ full first names are MaryFrances, MaryMarjorie, MaryJane and MaryTeresa.
Of course, Heffernan isn’t alone in wanting to name her daughters after family members.
According to a survey by BabyCenter, published Sept. 16, 23% of the more than 450 respondents named their baby after a family member — accounting for roughly 100 of respondents.
And she’s certainly not the only mom to want to name her daughter Mary.
After all, Mary was the No. 1 most popular girl name from 1900 to 1960 and still ranks inside the top 150 — most recently ranking 132nd in 2024 with 2,196 live births, per the Social Security Administration.
Heffernan explains where her baby name trend stems from
Heffernan has been telling her baby name origin story on social media for several years.
MaryFrances, whose middle name is Borchard, goes by Francie and was named after Brian’s paternal grandmother (Bernice Borchard), who had a sister named Frances.
MaryFrances is also a nod to Heffernan’s great-grandfather, who was named Francis.
READ MORE: Forget baby name trends — this couple chose one name and reused it six times for their kids
MaryMarjorie Sheehy, who goes by Maisie, was named after Heffernan’s maternal grandmother Mary Sheehy, who had a sister named Marjorie Sheehy.
The couple’s third daughter, MaryJane Regan, goes by Janie or JJ and shares a middle name with Heffernan. Her first name was inspired by Heffernan’s paternal grandmother MaryJane Simonson.
MaryTeresa Katherine, the youngest daughter, goes by Tessa Kate or Tess and was named after Heffernan’s aunt Teresa, her other aunt and godmother Kathy and her great aunt Kate.
Heffernan’s maternal grandmother, paternal grandmother and great great grandmother were also named Mary — which is where Heffernan’s name came from.
“My grandmother we called Marmar and she just loved horses, rodeo and the western lifestyle,” Heffernan wrote on Instagram.
“And [I] KNOW she’s looking down on all of these little Marys and so proud they love all the same things she did,” she added.
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Heffernan often refers to her family as the “Five Marys” — and her daughters as “My Four Marys.”
