Behind Jake Owen’s Baby Name

Jake Owen and his wife Lacey welcomed their first child, daughter Olive Pearl Owen, on Thanksgiving Day.  Although the baby’s first name is Olive, Jake & Lacey said they’d actually call her Pearl.  Country Countdown USA’s Lon Helton asked Jake why Pearl isn’t actually her first name: “We didn’t want to name her Pearl Owen…someone the other day told me, I guess they thought I was going to name her Pearl Olive Owen, which her initials would have been POO.  So I’m glad people know now we named her Olive Pearl Owen, so her initals are O-P-O.”

LISTEN: 12-49 Jake1

The name Pearl comes from someone special in Jake’s life: “My godmother, she was really my best friend growing up, her name was Susan Hart, we always called her Pearl, and from the time I was born til four or five months ago when she passed away, I knew her my whole life, she was the kind of woman, no one met her who didn’t love her, she never met a stranger, she was one of those interesting personalities, she smoked like a chimney, cussed like a sailor, the quintessential person, she does everything you’re not supposed to do, but yet you learn so much from her, so when we lost her, it was like losing an angel, and that’s when we found out we were pregnant, so we gained an angel in our life, so I felt the most fitting name was Pearl.”

Lon then asked where the name Olive came from: “Olive is from a tree…no, we just liked the name Olive.  It’s weird, the first time we told my parents were going to name her Olive, about four months ago, my dad said, ‘You gotta be kidding me, you can’t name her Olive, the first thing I think of is Olive Oyl from Popeye,’ but we just liked the name, Olive symbolizes peach and prosperity, we just thought it was a cool name, and my parents hated it, then it came out that Drew Barrymore had a child and named her Olive, so then my parents said it was OK, so we kept it, and hopefully as she grows older, she’ll like it too.”

LISTEN: 12-49 Jake2

Little Pearl will be joining her parents on the road in 2013. Jake has shows schedule with Jason Aldean in the new year, and he told Lon Helton he plans on bringing his wife and baby with him: “My wife decided that was something she wanted to do. At first I didn’t think it was a good idea, because I didn’t want my daughter to grow up on a bus, but since my wife has been with me through the whole pregnancy, in a round about way, little Olive has ridden the bus already, so she might enjoy it.”

Jake told Lon he’s aware that he will have his work cut out for him as a father when little Pearl gets older. “She’s gonna be a real cool girl, and I’m gonna have to beat a lotta guys who’re trying to come to the house.  I’ve had a lot of interesting insight on raising a daughter.  The most interesting comment I received was from a friend of mine who also has a daughter.  He told me, ‘I’m telling you man, organic food.  The chemicals they put in the food, these girls look like they’re 21 when they’re 14.  So feed them organic chicken.'”

By the way, Jake told Lon the baby was conceived on a rather romantic day: “It was right around Valentine’s Day when that happened.  We were in New York City doing the Jimmy Fallon show and I guess the stars aligned.”  So how has fatherhood changed Jake? “I notice my priorities are a lot different now.  It’s amazing, I’ve been so busy, I literally painted the baby’s room myself.  I painted it, I hung pictures on the wall.  Everybody asks why I don’t get someone to do it, and I’m not that kind of guy.  It’s my child, it’s her room.  I want her to know her dad painted her room.  Not that she would care, but there are certain things in life I need to be responsible for, and that’s one of them.”

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Category: Audio