Why Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling Named Their Daughter Esmeralda Amada

Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes explain their naming decision.

When Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes welcomed their baby girl on Sept. 12, they gave her a unique name, Esmeralda Amada

If you guessed, like us, that it was because of Gosling's love of all things Disney, especially the character Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, you were not too far off!

Mendes tells The Violet Files, "Ryan and I both love the Esmeralda character from the Victor Hugo novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and we just think it’s a beautiful name."


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The 40-year-old actress also explains that she and Gosling, 34, picked the middle name because, "Amada was my grandmother's name. It means 'beloved' in Spanish."

There you have it, not only a beautiful name but a meaningful choice. And her little girl's name was only the beginning of tough motherhood decisions for Eva.

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She says, "For instance, with the VIOLET GREY photo shoot, I thought, 'Is this something that she’s going to be proud of?' The idea that I would ever embarrass her is really heartbreaking for me."

While motherhood is not easy, Mendes also recognizes that being a baby might be even more of a struggle.

"I've learned that it's way harder to be a baby. Everything is a struggle for her," Eva says of baby Esmerelda. "For instance, I haven't thrown up since the '90s and she's thrown up twice since we started this interview. Motherhood is cake compared to what it's like to be a baby."

Esmeralda is the first child of her incredibly good looking parents who have been dating since 2011, after meeting on the set of their 2012 film The Place Beyond the Pines.

Watch Eva talk about her "other baby" in the video below.