Some parents spend months searching for the one perfect baby name. But for a New Orleans mom, the name she loved most was so meaningful that she used it three times — once for each of her triplets.
Artisha Davis says the idea came during a late-night Instagram scroll. She was looking for names with deep, heartfelt meaning when one stopped her in her tracks: “Daviane.” She learned it translates to “beloved,” and the word instantly felt right. Inspired, she shaped two companion versions — Davianna and Davian — and decided each baby would carry a piece of the name that spoke to her.
There’s only one small complication. “Nobody can pronounce their names,” Davis, 32, told TODAY.com, laughing. “Everybody mixes them up. Even I mix them up sometimes. I have to look and say, ‘Which kid is which?’”
To help clear things up, Davis breaks down the pronunciations like this: Davianna is Dah-vee-AH-nuh, Davian — her only boy — is Day-vee-in, and Daviane is Day-vee-on.
Not long after the babies were born in October 2024, the triplets developed another way to stand out — nicknames. They spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), where their feeding habits quickly revealed distinct personalities. The trio became known as Fat Mama, Little Mama, and Little Man, nicknames Davis still uses with affection to keep her tiny crew straight.
Naming three children so similarly might surprise some people, but for Davis it feels completely natural. She’s a twin herself, and her sister’s name, Artesha, differs from hers by just one letter — a pairing that has caused plenty of real-life confusion over the years.
“My sister gets a ticket and it shows up under my name,” Davis said. “Our prescriptions get swapped. We’re always calling to fix something.”
This fall, Davis expanded her family again, welcoming a baby girl. And she continued the theme — not by repeating the name exactly, but by choosing one that fits the same sound and spirit. Her newest daughter is named Devyn, a deliberate choice Davis says was meant to keep her youngest feeling just as connected.
“I didn’t want her to seem like she was on the other side of the world from them,” she said. “They’re so close in age — it just felt right.”
