Scotty McCreery and Gabi (Dugal) McCreery are keeping it in the family. The husband and wife, who tied the knot in June of 2018, became first-time parents earlier this week, announcing the birth of their first child, a baby boy, on social media.
A post on the “Damn Strait” singers page reveals the couple chose Merrick Avery as the name for their son, who came into the world weighing 7lbs and 13oz., and measuring 21 inches long.
“Never known a love like this. Merrick Avery McCreery joined us 11 days early on October 24th at 4:34 am! 7 lbs 13oz of nothin’ but love💙 Thank yall for all of your prayers during this exciting season of life! Healthy baby and a healthy mama! Praise God🙌🏼🙏🏼 ,” McCreery captioned a post on Tuesday (Oct. 25) alongside a carousel of pictures celebrating the birth of their child at a hospital in Raleigh, N.C.
A unique first name indeed, and fans were quick to point out the fact, according to a Taste of Country report. But it turns out McCreery and Gabi have personal ties to the moniker they chose for their son.
The newfound parents pulled the child’s first name from Gabi’s father Merrick (Tre) Dugal III to continue a tradition of honoring the family name. Her dad would’ve been the last Merrick. Gabi’s father went by Tre (a common name for a third generation), however, and the McCreerys came up with an idea to follow in those footsteps too. As with his grandfather, baby McCreery will respond to the middle name Avery, included on his birth certificate.
“I’m no longer the last male McCreery,” the singer told the outlet. “It’s up to Avery now.”
Leading up to Avery’s impending birth, McCreery and Gabi struggled to come up with a name for their son. In fact, McCreery had settled on a female name, thinking the couple would have a girl.
“I was the only boy on both sides of my family, the last McCreery boy out there,” he previously told People. “Gabi’s from two sisters in her family, so I just figured it would be a girl. But we got a surprise of a boy.”
After learning the gender of their baby, the pair knew they wanted something special, but chose not to pressure themselves.
“I think for us, we want it to come naturally. I don’t think we want to sit down and Google names all night for hours. We just want something to pop,” McCreery previously told Country Now. “There’s a leader in the clubhouse at the moment for a name. There’s definitely that. But, even still we’ll say it as we’re driving the car and be like, ‘Is it that?’ Like us, second-guessing ourselves.”
“It’s fresh. I’ll think like, ‘Well, this will be a name for this baby, but this will also be his name when he is 65 years old and tired and sitting on the porch,” he continued. “So, we want it to come naturally. We’ve got an idea, and we’ll see if that idea works out driving to the hospital that night because I was going to be an Evan, literally, until they got to the hospital. Then my parents were like, ‘I think we’ve got to call him Scotty.’ So, I guess you never know.”
According to The Bump, Merrick is a gender-neutral name that means “fame,” “power,” and “rule” while Avery combines “versatility and mystery” with the meaning of “elf counsel” or “ruler of elves.”
“Next to his mother, he is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” the North Carolina native, who also shared a photo on Instagram showing the family back at home, said via a statement. “We have been waiting and preparing all year, and now we are so excited to have our little man here with us. We have begun a grand new adventure that will continue for the rest of our lives.”
“Gabi was a total rock star during Avery’s birth. I could not be more proud of her,” he added. “She has already taken to motherhood like a champ. Part of my joy as his Dad is watching Gabi already crush it as his Mom.”
McCreery will have some downtime before his next concert, which takes place on Nov. 30, in Las Vegas. On Nov. 18, he will drop the deluxe version of his current album, Same Truck, which will feature six additional new songs.
