When a North Carolina couple welcomed their 16th child, they were stuck for what to name him. With their family tradition being to give their kids names beginning with the letter “C,” they were running out of ideas.
Patty Hernandez, 39, from Charlotte, North Carolina, continued the unusual family tradition by naming her newborn Clayton. She named all of her children with the same first letter in honour of their 38-year-old dad Carlos. But Patty revealed that she and her husband had struggled to think up a new name beginning with ‘C’ before their latest son was born.
She told Baby AZ Today: “We couldn’t figure out a name and then Clayton just popped into my head. “All the kids have names beginning with ‘C’ and we wanted to keep that going. My husband is called Carlos… it’s a tribute to him.”
The mum said her latest pregnancy was her toughest yet, although despite this she is still open to having more children. Patty, who runs her own cleaning company, said she feels like her huge family is a ‘blessing’ from God. Strong in faith, Patty and Carlos are dedicated to raising their family as Christians, trying to instill a sense of integrity and responsibility.
“Our children, they love each other and enjoy all going to school together,” said Patty. “They all have chores to do. They wake at 5.30 a.m. to go to school, come back, and help care for the seven babies and the household.” While the children are at school, the couple takes care of the house chores and does everything they need to do besides running their company before the babies prepare to take a nap at 1 p.m. every day. The family is a team, and Patty says she is proud they don’t rely on state support. The average person can only imagine the size of the food bill, and Patty agrees it’s astronomical.
They spend over 500 dollars on food every week—and that’s not including diapers and other things. The loving mother, who clearly adores all of her children and relishes parenthood, confesses that the news of her 16th baby was “a big surprise.”
Patty and her husband say they do sometimes get confused when calling out names in their lively household. Among their offspring are three sets of twins: Carla and Caitlyn, 11; Calvin and Catherine, 7; and Caleb and Caroline, 4. In descending order of age, the rest of the children are as follows: Carlos Jr., 13; Chris, 12; Cristian, 10; Celeste, 9; Cristina, 8; Caroll, 5; Camilla, 3; Charlotte, 2; Crystal, 1, and baby Clayton, 8 months.
Is the Hernandez family complete, or do the couple foresee any more additions?
“The most important thing is that God has blessed us and we’re open for more babies if our Lord wants to bless us with more”, Patty said. “The best thing about being a mother to 16 kids is that I feel blessed and have a sense of pride—because at the end of the day, we manage everything.”
I wish them well. I wish ….that each child will believe and feel they are special and loved as individuals in this never ending family.