Mackenzie Douthit is over the hate she’s been getting for the names she chose for her infant twins, and she took to social media this week to express her frustration over it— and reveal more details about why she chose the names to begin with.
As The Ashley previously told you, the Teen Mom star welcomed twin daughters with her husband Khesanio Hall on June 2 after undergoing IVF and battling pre-eclampsia that resulted in the twins being born early. Soon after the babies’ arrivals, Mackenzie announced the names that she and Khesanio had chosen for them: Ja’Kharie Angie and Ja’Meikah Angella. While Mack explained that the girls’ middle names were chosen in honor of her late mom, Angie Douthit, and Khesanio’s mom Angella, she hadn’t explained the significance of the kids’ first names until now.
Immediately after announcing the monikers, Mack said she was inundated with hate from fans who disliked the twins’ names.
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“As a couple, we love our kids’ names and we thought they’re beautiful,” Mackenzie said. “When we just held those names to ourselves we were really excited. But as soon as we put it out to the world, s**t hit the fan.”
Mack said the hate for the girls’ names overshadowed the happiness of their births, which came after Mackenzie experienced serious complications at the end of her pregnancy. (The girls ended up having to stay in the NICU for a while but went home earlier this month.)
“The moment they were born, no one was even like, ‘We’re so glad you’re alive, we’re so glad you made it through the pre-eclampsia, so glad the girls are healthy.’ No, it was immediately, ‘We hate the names!’ Mackenzie stated.
“…the day I had them and the day we put it out there, the comments were so sad to read,” she said later in the video. “… people saying, ‘You’ve ruined your kids’ lives.'”
Mackenzie went on to explain that Khesanio came up with the names for their daughters, and that she wanted him to have the experience of naming kids of his own. (As ‘Teen Mom’ fans know, Mackenzie shares her three oldest children— Gannon, Jaxie and Broncs— with her ex-husband Josh McKee.)
“I don’t understand what you guys wanted me to tell my spouse who fell in love with these names and are like, ‘These are my daughters’ names. These are the only kids I’ll ever have and this is what I’m naming them.'” Mackenzie said. “Did you want me to look at him and say, ‘Those names are too Black for me.’ Did you guys want me to say that? Because absolutely the hell not. I’m not going to say that. I love my girls’ names.”
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In the same video, Mackenzie gave some background on why she and Khesanio decided on the names Ja’Kharie and Ja’Meikah for their daughters. She explained that in Khesanio’s family, the kids are given unique names that are usually pretty long.
“All of [Khesanio’s mother’s] grandchildren have names that start with ‘J’ and they’re all very long names. Like, three or four syllables long. So this will be grandkid number six and seven [for her]. And her last grandkids,” Mack— who had previously had her tubes tied before beginning IVF to have the twins— said. “So, all of them have the ‘J’ names, they’re very long names, and they’re names that, especially here in America, you haven’t heard, most likely. We already knew from the get-go that we were going to have to follow that trend.”
Mack said she and Khesanio would frequently FaceTime his mom— who lives in Jamaica— about what to name the twins.
“I wanted names that I’d never heard before, but I have heard these names before,” Mack said, adding that she asked Khesanio to wait until the girl were born before they announced what the names would be.
“[I told Khesanio], ‘I’m warning you right now, people are going to flip s**t,'” she said. “People are going to hate them. Especially because I’m white and these are my kids. We were just going to get a lot of s**t. I already knew.”
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As predicted, Mackenzie received a lot of hate for the names. However, she insisted that she still loves her daughters’ names.
“These are my children and I do not care what the world thinks,” she said.
RELATED STORY: ‘Teen Mom’ Star Mackenzie Douthit Celebrates After Finally Being Able to Bring Both Her Twin Daughters Home from NICU
(Photos: Instagram)
These people act like Broncs and Jaxie are normal or better names lol. I thought they were pretty names for her 1/2 Jamaican babies
Seriously is this really all people have to talk about?What someone else named there baby/babies?What a sad world how about CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR TWINS!!!!
You don’t like the names who gives.a damn black names who gives a damn shes white he’s black who gives a damn it’s 2025 not 1905 people come up with unique not so common names everyday please let’s not act brand new to this.
#SORRYNOTSORRY
Good. Apostrophes have no business being in names.
Tell all of Ireland that.
95% of the names out of this franchise are cringe. I really didn’t consider these to be anything remarkable, they kind of fall into the middle of the cringe-o-graph. XD. It is sweet that she let him choose their names and seems like she’s tried to make it special for him, since they won’t have any more children together. Getting rid of Josh seems to have done wonders for her, she’s been much more likeable since they finally split.
People love to criticize every little thing these days, it’s annoying. Like the names would’ve been criticized even if it was a “normal” name. And the fact that people seem to care more about the names instead of Mack’s health or the twins’ health, speaks volumes. The names aren’t even that hard to pronounce either, my unique last name is harder. I’m sure they’ll eventually drop the Ja and call them Kharie and Meikah as nicknames which is what they’ll be known as. Still will be misspelled and mispronounced but you get used to it and who cares.
Right. People find my last name extremely hard to pronounce. Evatt. I get Evans, Evott. Everett.All kinds of things. Only one time that I’ve had one of the nurses call my name and get it right at the dr. I’m 42. Granted, it’s not my first name. It goes to show that people have a hard time with names pretty often.
The problem is that she considered her husband’s desires without regard to the effect on her innocent children. As a black person in America, I can tell you without a doubt she has put her children at a disadvantage right out of the gate. This is not an opinion, it is fact and confirmed by several studies. People in positions of authority in hiring and selection processes are 50% more likely to choose someone with a ‘white sounding’ name than one they perceive as ‘black, even when their qualifications are identical. Like it or not, this is a very racist country with systemic bias and many people are not even aware that they have such an internalized bias and act on it unconsciously.
SO instead of fixing the issue at hand, we stick with more white sounding names to fit in? Does that not sound problematic to you? Instead of rolling over and taking the racism, we should be pushing this issue and advocating for POC with less white sounding names. I understand that seems much more difficult in this period of time, but we’re only worsening the issue by working with it instead of fixing it. Sticking with more white sounding names is a band aid on a bullet wound.
Facts. The answer is to live fearlessly as ourselves. Not to roll over the take the White Supremacy up the a$$. – Signed a fellow Black person.
I don’t have a horse in this race, name your kid whatever you want, just don’t be surprised if it comes back to bite them (or you) in the ass someday. I often think it’s dumb when people make fun of another’s name, but, we all damn well know it happens. That said….
I have children who have chosen to change their names, either when adopted, or even as adults, because they absolutely could not stand the names they were given by their biological family. One of them had an extremely, we’ll be nice here and say…”unique” name, that also followed some weird family quirky trend that the family (rather, the adults in the family) thought was awesome but the vast majority of kids in the family, did not, they hate it. (this is not the only child from that family to have changed their name, btw).
The name got the poor kid all sorts of flack, not to mention the fact that the child themselves thought the “quirky family trend” was idiotic as all get out. Constantly having to explain your name gets annoying, constantly having to spell and sound it out equally so, but when you don’t look like your name suggests you should, all hell can break loose when you’re a kid. Compound that on top of everything else that comes with being a kid learning to navigate the world (and that doesn’t even include the whole exclusive just to foster kid aspects). Ugh. I don’t know why people insist on being “quirky” and “different” when all it does is create fodder for others’ amusement. It’s not the parent’s life, it’s the child’s and that ought to be taken into consideration.
Honestly, I’m glad my kids were able to change their names. Had they remained in the families they were in, that opportunity would not have come about and they’d still be struggling with stupid shit all because “mama wants to be quirky, trendy, cute, sentimental” and just loooooooves a name that ends up just being stupid to everyone but her. A name should mean something to the person that has it, not just the person who chooses it.
I think the how and why the names happened is sweet. I think the names are less so.
But it also doesn’t affect my life, and my opinion doesn’t matter here. The fact that people get up in arms about this shit is wild.
I thought it was nice too. Let these people live. I don’t want to live in a world where everyone is named Lauren and Michael and Nicholas
Names become more problematic as we get older. It’s one thing when kids go to school, and everyone only has to learn names once a year. Soon enough there will be multiple doctors, dentists, employers, DMV, IRS…There’s a certain ease with a simple name. I go by my middle name. I got so sick of telling people that I finally legally changed my name. And that was also a hassle. I’m not crazy about “black” names. I also think a lot of “white” names are ridiculous. I’ve always admired Mack, and I wish her and her family the best.
Dear Mackenzie and K’hensario, the names that you gave to your beautiful twin baby girls are unique and beautiful ❤️. Congratulations on the birth of your twin daughters and I wish them all the blessings in the 🌎! I also want to wish you both, all your children and your entire extended family all the blessings in the 🌎 for a lifetime of love, happiness and lots of health ❤️ 😊 💕!!!
I think their names are perfect . Don’t people realize they are half black ??
People that give their kids “unique” names are idiots. All her kids have ridiculous names, it’s not Khessanio’s fault. They have the right to name their kids whatever absurdity they can come up with but it’s still ridiculous and will cause problems for them.
I think it’s strange people care what anyone names their own children… it’s no one’s business but their own. They are names that Khesanio chose and they reflect his culture and fit into the “J” them of the family names. I think they’re fine the way they are and sure, they might be made fun of but no one knows that for sure. Shoot, my name is Jennifer and there has been plays on even that when folks have tried hard enough. I think the babies are beautiful, I’m glad they are healthy and I’m glad Mackenzie and Khesanio don’t care if anyone likes them or not. And it is true- they just aren’t “white washed” names- doesn’t make them “ghetto” SMH. That is ridiculous. Also, I love how much Khesanio has stepped up for Mackenzie’s older children and they all seem to love and respect him. Good for all of them!
[…] Ashley reports that the infamous Teen Mom star also shared a lengthier video in which she defended the twins’ […]
She said that wanted unique names that no one’s ever heard before. Neither of those names are unique. I know plenty Jakaries and I went to school with a Gimika. Same names, spelled differently.
I had a friend with a brother (born in the late nineties) named “John”. Never had another one in his class. 😂
I don’t like the names in general, but I also don’t know if they’re legitimate names in Jamaica or just something those two made up. I really dislike twins having “matchy” names, though, so them both starting with “Ja” and then also having almost the exact same middle name is just too much.
Would there have been some sort of legal repercussion/potentially fatal outcome if his mom were to have grandkids had names that started with a letter besides “J” or were more “conventional”, or at least intuitively spelled?
I’ve known plenty of people with non-European origin names that don’t cause any more issues than people with “‘Jean’ or ‘JeannE?” or “is that with an ‘a’ or an ‘h’ on the end?” because general English spelling conventions were used.
They face a lifetime of spelling out those names for people over and over and over…
And? Instead of being progressive we should hold onto more “traditional” names like Kim or Andy? Like in Roman times we didn’t have people named shit like Eurydice? GTFOH
I think what Tracy is trying to get at is, it complicates a child’s life and does cause embarrassment for them, firsthand experience here! My first name is always mispronounced and misspelt, and misheard. It’s embarrassing when someone says “what?” And misspells or mispronounced it constantly.
Again, and? Sounds more like the issue is society wanting to keep names white washed and easy instead of, IDK, progressing forward.
Annnnd correcting them on how to pronounce the names. Just sucks since your name is such an important part of ur identity
Then I guess the people should learn how to say their names the FIRST time they’re told, huh? It’s not hard. I’ve been a tutor. I’ve learned African names, Arabic names, way out there crazy spelled names. Only have to learn it once. If you respect someone enough, you’ll learn how to say their names correctly, there’s no excuse.
[…] Ashley reports that the infamous Teen Mom star also shared a lengthier video in which she defended the […]
People need to calm down. Will they get made fun of? Probably. But so do most kids for something. Your name, the way you talk, the clothes you wear…. they will be fine. Then you grow up and so does everyone else. If someone named Dick Butkis can make it, “Jamaica” and “Jakari” will be on easy street.
Convenience babies. The ultimate virtue signal.
I was today days old to find out the singer Sia has a baby called Somersalt Wonder so…..Mack’s babies are sittin’ pretty.
People are miserable and lash out at anything and everything they can. It’s pathetic. Time to grow up.
Pretty soon you’re going to be on your death bed wishing you didn’t spend so much time b*tching at or making fun of strangers online. Especially ones that have done absolutely nothing to you. It’s embarrassing. Get out and live life. We only get one trip here, and it’s a short one.
Congratulations to Mackenzie and her husband on the beautiful babies. I’m so glad they are healthy and safely here.
Same goes for you, love
But aren’t you mad at what she said so maybe take your own advice.
Having and expressing an opinion isn’t hate, it’s human. And hey, you can live a full life AND have opinions! There’s enough time for both. Stop being overly sensitive about comments towards people you don’t even know, it’s ridiculous.
To be fair, her other kids have dumb sounding names too. There gonna have ppl laughing at them behind their backs which clearly the parents are ok with.
Not true the babies names are beautiful my kids are mixed too with”black” name and i could give a shit what anyone has to say lol. I raised my kids black so get over that lol grow up everyone
I think she put the wrong middle names with the first ones.
Did she even say them out loud?
Because putting “ee” sounding names together sounds weird. If she had changed the middle names it would’ve flowed nicer.
People need to grow the hell up. Names are names. It’s not a big deal. Those are their kids and they can name them whatever they want. Leave them alone.
She got just as much … “Hate*… for Gannon, Jaxie and Broncs.
People truly have nothing better to do than to hate this nice couple for the names they gave their own children? This world is doomed.
There’s a whole reddit board where miserable people make fun of kids names. Like that’s it’s only purpose…occasionally you’ll see out there names Elon Musk’s kids but most of the names made fun of come from POC. It’s just a low key way to be racist. If you don’t name your kid things like Jason or Ashley they come for you. They seem to really hate the names Jax, Jackson, and Emma…which is very odd. Apparently you never see grown ups with those names. Clearly they’ve never seen Sons of Anarchy or honestly ME. 37 year old Emma checking in.
It’s weird people hate Emma because it became so trendy the past 15 years. It’s one of the most beautiful AND accessible names…it can be pronounced in any language. And, you know, the title of a classic novel from over a hundred years ago. And you were named it at a time when it was unique! At least in the U.S, 30 years ago if you were looking for a keychain/kitschy gift thing with a name on it to give a kid named Emma, there’d be like “Emily” and “Erica” with no “Emma” in between. I don’t (and won’t) have a kid named Emma but I’m gonna hype you up! It’s a great name!
Article tax: I’m glad Mack and Khesanio have healthy baby twin girls. If she’s telling the truth, it was super sweet to have her husband pick out the names, since she’s already named three kids. I’ve known a family where every kid had to be named after a river. This was in the early 90s, so I’ve always wondered what happened to poor Amazon. Think she ended up going by Mazie.
I agree. I think it’s really mean to comment on something and be so cruel. I can easily read/pronounce the names. It’s not going to “ruin” their lives. There are plenty of kids who have unique names now.
Either way, they’re better than “apple” and “pilot inspektor.”
Good thing nobody else’s opinions matter. Not like she named them Malibu Barbie, Elvis, or fucking Aquaman.
Love After Lock Up has a Manhattan Barbie
Ja’Fucked up on the names. Life’s hard, let’s make it harder.
Look I don’t care what they’re named, but reality is that the names are very different and oddly spelled. They are at first glance, hard to decipher and pronounce. And this is just the fact. Also, the fact that ja’meikah is pronounced “Jamaica” (?) makes the child a little more susceptible to being made fun of. Sadly 🙁
Yes, they’re her kids but, they are going to grow up as PEOPLE. kids are not possessions, parents must do what’s right for the kids, even if the name you give them sounds cute now, think of THEIR future with names like those.
Is it “ja-mee-kah” or “ja-may-kah?” I thought it was the first one
I’ve always mentally said it
“ja-my-kah.” I know she’s called J’Kharie “Kharie”
I like Kharie and Meikah (Micah) as nicknames.
In English, ‘mei’ is pronounced as ‘may’. So, it would be like “Jamaica” just spelled non-traditionally.
Except it’s NOT English and THEIR MOTHER stated it’s said as “Micah” 🙂
That’s what I thought
I’ve been wondering if it’s “mee-ka,” “mye-ka,” or “may-ka.” Not enough to really look into it and find out though. Lol. Also don’t know if Ja’Kharie is “car-ee” or “care-ee.”
In a perfect world, no one would be judged for their names. Unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world. Her daughters are going to have a harder time in life because of the names their parents chose for them. That may not be fair, but it’s reality, and parents should be considerate of that when choosing names.
She screwed those kids over at birth. For their entire lives
In more ways than just the stupid names
You sound stupid, y’all just mad bc their names aren’t lily white. Leave those black children alone. I’m glad they are gonna grow up being black and not confused like most of the other mixed children who white mamas raise them without their culture.
THANK YOU
I’m glad she doesn’t care. They are her children and she has the right to name them whatever she wants. The names are part of a tradition and they will grow into them with grace.
Did you want me to look at him and say, ‘Those names are too Black for me.
Woof.
They are really shitty names.. it should have been expected that people would make fun of them… get over it makenzie(or change them to decent names).. I mean there are any Facebook groups making fun of shitty names. These are 2 absolute name tragedeighs
I’ve had two kids. These may not be traditional names but they’re not even that bad and it probably hurts her feelings and is totally unnecessary IMO to make fun of their names. He’s not even American so it makes sense their names are different. Who cares