Actress Vanessa Morgan, who portrays the character of Toni Topaz on the hit series Riverdale, has announced the arrival of her first child with her estranged husband Michael Kopech, pitcher for the Chicago White Sox.

The actress posted a simple photo that showcased her newborn son’s hand. She shared that the name she and Michael chose for their son is River. Vanessa shared that River entered the world on January 29th. She reflected on this brand new journey for her in the announcement. “The most challenging, beautiful experience of my life. Words cannot describe this kind of love. We are enjoying this time home with him, being present, & giving him all the lovin in the world. Becoming parents is the most rewarding gift in the entire world.”

After posting her announcement, Vanessa took to Instagram stories to reveal the inspiration behind her son’s name. Spoiler alert: it’s incredibly beautiful. Vanessa shared a text-based story post set to Ben Platt’s song River and wrote: “Early on in my pregnancy, I was walking the River everyday, gave me so much peace I knew that was the perfect name for his lil soul. Plus Michael & I really wanted a nature name.”

In another Instagram story, she shared a powerful quote by Lisa Wingate from her book Tending Roses that discussed the beauty of rivers. “Indian wisdom says our lives are rivers. We are born somewhere small and quiet and we move toward a place we cannot see, but only imagine. Along our journey, people and events flow into us, and we are created of everywhere and everyone we have passed. Each event, each person, changes us in some way. Even in times of drought we are still moving and growing, but it is during season of rain that we expand the most – when water flows from all directions, sweeping at terrifying speed, chasing against rocks, spilling over boundaries. These are painful times, but they enable us to carry burdens we could never have thought possible.”

Vanessa obviously put a lot of thought into her son’s name and chose something very meaningful. Congratulations to Vanessa and Michael on welcoming River into the world!

Kate Fann (she/her) is the BabyNames.com celebrity blogger, as well as an established content writer, aspiring author, and social media expert. She has been featured in online publications such as Bolde, ManoByte, Medium, The Social Observer, and more. Kate has ghostwritten numerous romance novels and is currently working on publishing her own works in the Young Adult genre.

Kate lives in East Tennessee with her husband Casey and her two sons, Quinn and Noah. When she's not writing or scrolling Instagram, Kate can be found tasting delicious wines, playing with make-up, baking yummy treats, or hiking the beautiful Smoky Mountains.