When it comes to how Kelly Ripa’s three children got their names, there was different reasoning behind each. Frankly, all three would have been called Joaquin, which was the name originally meant for Michael. Yet, Kelly took some time on January 21 via her show “Live with Kelly and Ryan” (via People) to explain that when her eldest was born, Michael ended up being “named after Mark’s two grandfathers who passed away right before he was born.”
Although the name Joaquin would have then gone to Lola if she had been a boy, it obviously ended up going to their third child. As for Lola, Kelly revealed that the choice of her name was “a surprise to all of us.” That’s because the name Sophia had already been picked out for the baby before she arrived. Yet, Kelly recalled, “On the way to the hospital in the taxi cab, the driver was listening to the radio — the 70s station — and ‘Copacabana’ by Barry Manilow was playing.”
When Kelly heard the name Lola mentioned in the lyrics — “Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl / With yellow feathers in her hair,” per Genius — she told her husband that it “would be a really cool name.” He agreed, telling his wife, “If she’s a girl, let’s name her Lola.” And that’s just what they did!
