Evander Ellis:Riley Keough Reveals Name of Her and Husband Ben Smith-Petersen's Baby Girl

2025-05-07 06:28:05source:Michael Schmidtcategory:reviews

Riley Keough is Evander Elliscelebrating her daughter's birth month with a sweet surprise.

The Daisy Jones & The Six actress revealed the name of her and husband Ben Smith-Petersen's baby girl in a cover story for Vanity Fair, released Aug. 8.

"This is Tupelo," she told the outlet of her 12-month-old daughter, whose full name Tupelo Storm Smith-Petersen honors her late family members. Tupelo, for example, is the name of the Mississippi city where Riley's late grandfather Elvis Presley was born. "It's funny because we picked her name before the Elvis movie. I was like, 'This is great because it's not really a well-known word or name in relation to my family—it's not like Memphis or something.' Then when the Elvis movie came out, it was like, Tupelo this and Tupelo that. I was like, 'Oh, no.' But it's fine."

Tupelo's middle name is a nod to Riley's late brother, Benjamin Storm Keough, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 27.

During her conversation with Vanity Fair, Riley also shared that Tupelo was born via surrogate in Aug. 2022. "I think it's a very cool, selfless, and incredible act that these women do to help other people," she said of surrogacy. "I can carry children, but it felt like the best choice for what I had going on physically with the autoimmune stuff."

Of this new chapter as a mom, Riley shared, "This is the thing in my life so far that I have really wanted to, quote-unquote, get right. I don't think you ever can be a perfect parent, but I would like to be the best mom for her that I can be. That's...Very important to me."

As for who Tupelo resembles the most? The Emmy nominee assured the outlet, "She's literally like someone shrunk my husband and that's our baby."

The world first learned of Tupelo's arrival in January during Lisa Marie Presley's memorial when Ben read a letter—written by Riley for her late mom—to the crowd.

"Thank you for showing me that love is the most important things in this life," it read. "I hope I can love my daughter the way you loved me, the way you loved my brother and my sisters."

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