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Rachel Riley and Pasha Kovalev reveal the meaning behind their new baby girl’s name
18 December 2019, 12:25
Rachel Riley and Pasha Kovalev have named their newborn Maven Aria, and have revealed the meaning behind the sweet name.
Rachel Riley and Pasha Kovalev became parents for the first time over the weekend, welcoming a baby girl on Sunday morning.
The Countdown star, 33, announced the news on her social media on Wednesday 18th December, saying that they were “in love” with their newborn.
Rachel and her Strictly Come Dancing professional husband also revealed the name of their little one, and the special meaning each moniker holds.
On her Twitter page, Rachel wrote they had named their baby Maven Aria Riley Kovaleva.
The baby’s first name, Maven means “one who understands”, says Rachel.
According to NameBerry, Maven can be a boy and girl name, and is a Hebrew name.
Maven’s middle name is Aria, which Rachel explained on Twitter means “lioness”.
The name is originally Italian, and can also mean air, song or melody and ranked at the 19th most popular baby girl name in 2018.
NameBerry explain on their website: “Aria has origins in both Italian and Hebrew.
“In the former, Aria's literal meaning, air, is meant as a musical term denoting a kind of song or melody.
“Hebrew Aria is a variation of Ari, meaning ‘lion.’ In Persian, Aria is a male name, and in Indian it is considered unisex. Arya is an alternate spelling.”
Maven’s surname is a combination of her parents, Riley and Kovaleva – which is the female version of Pasha’s surname Kovalev.
The couple are currently ecstatic with the arrival of their baby girl, and shared a number of pictures of the newborn online.
Captioning the snaps of baby Maven, Rachel wrote on Twitter: “2 weeks after we were expecting her this little one finally made an appearance!
“Miss Maven (one who understands) Aria (lioness) Riley Kovaleva arrived on Sunday morning weighing in at 7lbs 4.”
She also added: “After keeping us waiting she came so fast we didn’t get to hospital & was born in our bathroom with our amazing doula & wonderful St Mary’s midwives rushing over to be with us just in time!
“She’s absolutely perfect & Pasha & I are in newborn bliss. Couldn’t be more in love.”
