Jenna Bush Hager reveals why she almost changed her daughter’s name

Jenna Bush Hager opened up about her mother’s hilarious reaction to the birth of the TV personality’s first child, Margaret Laura “Mila” Hager, who was also the family’s first grandchild.

The 44-year-old shared on Thursday’s episode of Jenna & Friends that when Mila was born in 2013, Jenna’s mom, former First Lady Laura Bush, didn’t quite understand how to pronounce her granddaughter’s name due to her Texan upbringing.

“[After the birth], my mom called, and she’s like, ‘Now in Texas, they’re calling her My-la. The way you spelled it, M-I-L-A, they’re saying Myla.”

“What did she want you to do about that?” asked Jenna’s guest co-host, Scarlett Johansson. “She’s like, ‘You know Lela is L-E-L-A, maybe you change it to Mela,” the mom of three replied.

Learn more about Jenna’s bond with her kids below…

“I was like, you want me to change the spelling of my child’s name because in Texas they’re mispronouncing her name as Myla?” Jenna laughed.

“Do you think that would be helpful?” Scarlett quipped, adding: “I haven’t seen that spelling.”

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The Today show star noted that Mila was not as popular of a name when her daughter was born as it was now, and shared her hopes that Texans had learned the correct pronunciation.

Mila was named after her two grandmothers, including Laura Bush, while Jenna’s middle child, Poppy, 10, is named after her grandfather, former President George W. Bush, who used to go by “Poppy” in childhood.

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Her seven-year-old son, Henry “Hal” Hager, is named after his father and Jenna’s husband of 17 years, Henry Hager. George announced Mila’s arrival via a Facebook post in 2013. “Laura and I are thrilled to announce the birth of our grandchild, Margaret Laura “Mila” Hager,” he wrote. “Mila, daughter of Jenna and Henry Hager, is named for her grandmothers.”

The author revealed on Tuesday’s episode of Today that she wanted to drop “Bush” from her name when she first started her teaching career in Washington, D.C. in the early ’00s. “I went by Ms. Jenna ’cause I didn’t really want them to know [who I was], although, of course, they knew,” she admitted on the show. “And so, I was, like, ready to go by Hager.”

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“But then, I started at the Today show, and they were like, ‘You wrote a book under Jenna Bush.’ And I was like, ‘Alright, whatever.’ They were like, ‘People may not know who you are,’ which is so stupid because I’ve been here for 15 years. Anyway, I did both, and I’m fine with it. I actually like having both.”

Jenna started working with the Today team as a correspondent in August 2009, and took over the hosting duties of the show’s fourth hour when Kathie Lee Gifford left in April 2019.

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She previously opened up about being a “nepo baby” after growing up in the public eye. “I think it’s hard. People want [nepo babies] to fail,” Jenna said on the show. “[My twin] Barbara and I are serious workaholics, and I’ve tried to figure out why, and I think it’s because we want to prove to people that it isn’t always easy.”

“I’m glad I work really hard, and I’m glad I have the family that I have. But I also need to, at some point, be like, ‘Okay, I did it. I proved it.’ And I can also be happy with my kids at home. I think it’s a double-edged sword.”