The Real Meaning Of Anderson Cooper's New Baby's Name

Anderson Cooper, at the age of 52, has just become a daddy for the first time. Not only the newborn pics, but the story he shares on his Instagram, is just absolutely the sweetest thing you're going to read today. Cooper said that, as a gay man, he never thought that he'd be able to have a child of his own to pass on the legacy of love from his own parents, but luckily we as a society have come a long way over the past few decades. Cooper states his gratitude for all the pioneering gay parents who paved the way, for the medical personnel who helped with his son's birth, and most of all, to the wonderful surrogate who carried little Wyatt Morgan Cooper for 9 long months.

Yes, that is the name of this brand new 7.2 pound bundle o' joy. As to why these particular names—– both Wyatt and Morgan — Cooper's Instagram post also reveals the heart-melting story behind these choices.

When you hear the names Wyatt and Morgan, if you're a fan of westerns and/or a big history buff, you're automatically going to think "Earp" and wonder why Cooper couldn't have worked in the name of Virgil, the third of the famous lawmen brothers of Tombstone, Arizona (there was a fourth Earp, James, but he was a no-show at the O.K. Corral, according to The San Bernardino Sun). The real reason why Cooper chose these names for his baby, however, has nothing to do with the history of the Old West and everything to do with his own family history. Wyatt was the name of his own father, who passed away when Cooper was just 10 years old, and of whom he says, "I hope I can be as good a dad as he was." Morgan was a family name on his mom's side (his mother being heiress-turned designer Gloria Vanderbilt, who passed away last year), and is one of the names his parents once considered for baby Anderson.

Although Cooper's sorry that his parents and his brother are no longer here to meet this newest family member, he says he likes to believe that they can see him, and says, "I imagine them all together, arms around each other, smiling and laughing, happy to know that their love is alive in me and in Wyatt, and that our family continues." (Sniffle, sniffle... okay, grabbing that super-size box of Kleenex.)