Duck Dynasty stars Willie and Korie Robertson pulled heavily from family tradition when choosing names for their kids. They also picked out one name based on a favorite memory from their early days as a couple. Another name might be a Star Trek reference!
Korie Robertson shared the full story of how her kids got their names in a social media post.
How Did The Duck Dynasty Kids Get Their Names?
“John Luke is our first. John is my dad’s name and my granddad’s name was Luther, but everyone called him Luke,” Korie explains.
Even though both names come from her side of the family, John Luke’s name has special meaning to Willie — even though it’s not so family-focused. “Willie will tell you that it actually came from Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek. Willie was a big Star Trek fan,” Korie adds.
Next up is their daughter Sadie Carroway. Korie says she “just loved the name,” and also noted that it means “princess.” Carroway is Kay Robertson’s maiden name, and Sadie also eventually passed it down as a middle name to her third daughter, Kit.
The Robertson’s next child is Will Alexander, who also inherited two strong family names. “Willie after Willie [Robertson], and Alexander after Phil [Robertson]. Phil’s middle name is Alexander,” Korie says. “Really sweet to have him named after two great men.”
Their fourth child, daughter Bella, gets her name from a memory that Willie and Korie share of living in Italy as newlyweds as part of a college study program.
Read More: How Does the Duck Dynasty Family Compound Work?
“We would travel for, like, three days on trains, and we’d come back, and every time we’d come back, there were these sweet cooks at our villa and they would say, ‘bella regazze,’ and that meant ‘beautiful girls,'” Korie recalls. “Obviously, Willie wasn’t a beautiful girl. Whenever my friends and I, the rest of us, would come in, [they would say that.]”
Bella’s middle name, Chrysanne, comes from Korie’s mother’s name.
Korie also spoke about their son Rowdy, who joined the family at 12 years old and was officially adopted one year later. They didn’t choose his name, but Korie says they immediately loved how striking it was.
“As soon as we heard his name we were like, ‘Rowdy Robertson: He’s either gonna be, like, a wrestler or a bull rider,'” she says with a laugh. “Which, he’s neither of those things. He’s in college now. But we thought Rowdy Robertson was a super cool name and seemed to fit our family perfectly. So God had that one in mind.”
What About Rebecca Robertson?
Korie Robertson didn’t include Rebecca in her list of how all the Robertson kids got their names, since Rebecca’s story is a bit different.
Rebecca came to the Robertson family as a 16-year-old exchange student who had been raised in Taiwan. The family embraced her, and she wound up staying in the U.S. The Robertsons consider her their daughter, though they never legally adopted her like they did with Will (who was adopted as a baby) and Rowdy.
“She has a mom that is still in Taiwan that loves her dearly, but we’re her American family,” Korie explained on a 2021 episode of her At Home With the Robertsons series.
In her new social media post talking about the origin of her kids’ names, Korie responded to a fan who asked about Rebecca’s story, saying, “I may have to do another video on that!”
‘Duck Dynasty’: What Happened to the Kids?
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
