After a few days of waiting, Khloé Kardashian has revealed that her newborn daughter's name is True Thompson. "Our little girl, True Thompson, has completely stolen our hearts and we are overwhelmed with LOVE," she wrote on Instagram Monday. "Such a blessing to welcome this angel into the family! Mommy and Daddy loooooove you True!"
Khloé and Tristan Thompson have continued the Kardashian family tradition of picking unusual names for their kids. According to the Social Security Administration, True has never been in the top 1000 most popular baby names since 1900.
The name is certainly uncommon, but it's not the first celebrity kid with the name. According to the baby-name site Nameberry, Forest Whitaker picked it for his daughter, True Isabella Summer Whitaker. And Kody and Christine Brown from the TLC reality show Sister Wives named their daughter Truely in 2010.
It turns out True is a family name for the Kardashian-Jenners. Mom Kris Jenner posted on Instagram "FUN FACT... my Grandfather’s name on my Dad’s side was True Otis Houghton," she wrote. "My real Dad’s name was Robert True Houghton...so i am so excited Khloe named her daughter True!!!"
“The Kardashians have been choosing meaningful words as names with these last few babies," says Linda Murray, senior vice president of consumer experience and global editor in chief of BabyCenter. "[They] are choosing expressive words, like Saint, Stormi, Chicago, and Dream, and True fits right in as a name that is both unique and meaningful.”
The website Appelation Mountain, which covers baby names, notes that True is a "virtue name," like Patience, Honor, or Valor. Like True's cousins North, Chicago, and Saint, the meaning is its dictionary definition. Another version of the name uses the spelling Tru, inspired by the Eliza Dushku Fox series Tru Calling.
According to Merriam-Webster, that definition could be "being in accordance with the actual state of affairs," "properly so called," or some more cheerful definitions, like steadfast, loyal, honest, or just. And given the Tristan Thompson cheating scandal that surfaced right before her birth, those definitions could be a subtle slam at her dad. That's what fans immediately thought on social media.
"The meaning behind True seems especially resonant given the recent cheating scandal involving the baby's father," says Pamela Redmond Satran, a co-creator of Nameberry. "I'm sure that for Khloé, True is an important word right now, both in terms of loyalty and literal truth."
In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres back in January, Khloé revealed that if her baby was a boy, she would name him Tristan Jr. after his dad. But she said she was stumped if her baby ended up being a girl. “Then for a girl, I don’t know where to begin," she said. But she noted that she'd want her name to begin with a K or a T, after one of the little one's parents.
Little True joins a big group of first cousins: Kourtney's children with Scott Disick, Penelope, Mason, and Reign; Kim's children with Kanye West, North, Saint, and Chicago; Rob's daughter with Blac Chyna, Dream; and Kylie's daughter with Travis Scott, Stormi.
"The Kardashians have a new tradition: They're not choosing K names but word names with often-uplifting meanings," Satran says, noting that their names are often gender-neutral as well. "I like it! [True is] simple, straightforward, meaningful, and attractive—the Sue for a new generation."
