Zac Hanson and wife welcome son John Ira Shepherd

Hanson drummer Zac Hanson, 22, and his wife Kate, 24, have welcomed their first child, a son. John Ira Shepherd Hanson arrived on Tuesday, May 27th in Tulsa, OK. Shepherd, as the baby will be called, weighed in at 8 lbs, 4 oz. Proud new dad Zac shared,

I am so overjoyed. There is not an audience or concert that could ever stand up to the feeling of meeting your baby for the first time.

Kate added,

Shepherd is the most wonderful gift we could ever receive. We’re already enjoying every second of this great adventure.

Zac and Kate tied the knot on June 3rd, 2006. The pregnancy was announced in November.

Source: People; Photo by DeGuire/Wireimage.

Thanks to CBB readers Mandy, Debbi and Bre.

Comments

I’m so happy they finally confirmed the news. Fans have been speculating since Tuesday night.

Congratulations to the proud new parents! I can’t wait to see baby’s first photo.

- Lisa on May 29th, 2008

I have been checking CBB for the last few days for this announcement!! Congrats Zac! I can’t wait to hear about Isaac’s new addition as well.

- Michele on May 29th, 2008

Tell me this isn’t the youngest Hanson boy…I feel so old! Congrats to the new parents!

- Emaline on May 29th, 2008

Aw YAY! Congrats to them! I’ve been waiting for this for weeks. God, I can’t believe they’re all married with kids. What happened to the long haired boys I was obsessed with during my teenage years?! Hahah.

- Cait on May 29th, 2008

Oh man…what a cringe-worthy name.
You can just imagine him being bullied in school.

- Catherine on May 29th, 2008

Congrats to Zac and Kate!

- Cheyenne on May 29th, 2008

just curious,why give the baby two names they won’t call him? I could understand if he was a Jr. and they didn’t want to confuse people. I’ve heard of other people calling their (usually) son by their middle name. why not just name the child the name you will actually call them? congrats to them anyway

- jillyen on May 29th, 2008

she looks like Natalie Portman.

- poppy on May 29th, 2008

I feel so old even though I’m his wifes age…but I grew up with him and his brothers so it’s weird seeing them having babies and being married.

Congrats too them!!!

- Ericka on May 29th, 2008

Jillyen,
I agree, makes no sense to name a baby a ‘first name’ they won’t ever call him. Why not Shepherd Ira John or whatever if they liked it so much. Over all the names I prefer John anyways. Shepherd not my cup of tea LOL

- Kim on May 29th, 2008

I love the name Shepherd. But i would always spell it Sheppard due to my stargate fangirl heart.

@ jillyen. In regards to the name(s). Taylors son is Jordan Ezra, but only uses Ezra. Taylors own name is actually Jordan Taylor.

Same goes for Issac, his is actually Clarke Issac, and his son is Clarke Everett, but they both go by middle names only.

(Also, coz i googled it. His father is Clarke Walker, but uses Walker and a 4th brother uses his middle name only too.. Mac).

Must be a long running family tradition. Personally, i love it.

- Dorkiee on May 29th, 2008

I have loved Hanson since the beginning. I used to be utterly obsessed, now I’ve grown up and still love the music. It makes me feel so weird to hear that they’re all grown up with kids. There will be 6 kids between the 3 of them! Holy cow!

Congrats to Zac and Kate!

- Christar on May 29th, 2008

Lindos! Parabéns pro casal.
Deve ser um meninão lindão!

=)

- heliemare on May 29th, 2008

It’s a southern thing. I am a nurse in the O.R. (in Nashville, TN) and when I talk to my patients, I ask them what they like to be called, since coming out of anesthesia is a weird time. I don’t want to call them John if they haven’t used that name since the day they got their birth certificate! I’d say 75-80% of the people I encounter go by their middle name. But, for the Hansons, it could possibly also just family tradition. I do not understand it at all. I say, name the baby what you’re going to call him/her. But, that’s what I do with my babies. Heck, I don’t even use names that have a real obvious nickname. I don’t want to call my sons one thing and have them hate it and go by something else. (example: my husband’s given name is Timothy. The ONLY person that calls him that is his mom. He actually cringes when she calls him Timothy. He’s just Tim to everyone else.) Whatever someone wants to do with their babies, go for it. I may still think they’re odd, though!

- Nicole on May 29th, 2008

I too think it is a southern/eastern tradition to not use the first name given to a child. Somewhat like the Hansons, my grandfather was William Richard- he went by Richard. My father is Richard Charles- he goes by Charles. My brother is Charles Adam- just call him Adam and his son is Adam Michael- aka Mikey for now. My grandmother’s family was the same way- all of the girls went by their middle names but their daughters did not.

My mom’s family uses both of their given names when they address each other- Jessica Lynn, Jenna Michelle, etc.

Luckily (?) for me I am just plain ole’ Teagan!

- Teagan on May 29th, 2008

The fourth brother someone was referring to is Mackenzie, whose first name is Joshua.

- christina on May 29th, 2008

congratulations Zac and kate! I wish them nothing but the best of luck with their new addition!

*i took the walk*

- cassie on May 29th, 2008

Happy news although I would never name my child after a breed of dog. : )

I think Seinfeld did it too.

- nosoupforyou on May 29th, 2008

I hope Ike and his wife have a girl. Poor Ellie (Penelope). She’s so outnumbered.

- say1031 on May 30th, 2008

I have four names…I have My first name, middle, dad’s last and mom’s last. Maybe Shepherd is Kate’s maiden name? Maybe it’s a memorial name for a passed family member? Maybe they just couldn’t decide between the 2 and just stuck them both in there! I’m sure different people will call him different names…they may even shorten it to “Shep” once he gets older. Grandma might call him John or Johnny…who knows. Can’t wait to see the baby though!

- Ericka on May 30th, 2008

My brother went by his middle name for 18 years. Then he joined the Navy and they called him by his first name… so he legally changed it (switched them around).

My daughter is called by her 2 names, first AND middle, but that confuses people all the time.

I’m a name fanatic, so I pay attention to all these things. I like the fact that the name he goes by is different. I also like the nn Shep.

- ZBella on May 30th, 2008

Congrat to the new parents cant wait to se pictures of their little boy. Congrats and good luck

- Kaitlynn on May 30th, 2008

Actually its a Hanson thing lol…Most of the family has a long running tradition of going by their middle names. They are usually named after a significant member of the family and then run by their middle names. River (Taylors youngest) and Zac are the only ones that are called by their first names in the entire family. This might be first the one that goes by their second middle name though! And this also isn’t the “youngest” hanson boy! lol They are the oldest three out of the family and have a pack of siblings underneath them. Can’t wait to see what Nikki is having I hope poor Penny has someone to play with! lol The family is very nice though and very friendly and if you ever have the pleasure of getting to know them on a personal level its a wonderful experience!
((HUGGS))
A.J.

- *AJ* on May 30th, 2008

It’s often a tradition in the UK too. Four of my OH’s male relatives from Yorkshire are called John, but they all go by their middle names!

Congrats to the family, I like the name Shepherd

- Ruthella on May 30th, 2008

I have been waiting to hear this news all month!! I’d check the site like 4 or 5 times a day! Congrats to Zac & Kate.
I like their tradition of using the middle names and whatnot. However, I like Ira better than Shepherd, although “Shep” is cute.
I can’t believe that Zac is a father! My childhood dreams are shattered!!

- Maddy on May 30th, 2008

Erika- Kate’s maiden name is Tucker. =)

And *AJ*- I think all of the Hanson women go by their given names:mom Diana, and sisters Jessica “Jessie”, Avery and Zoe. I know Zoe goes by her first name, and I’ve never heard the brothers refer to Jessica or Avery otherwise.

And as someone who grew up using my middle name, my family did it because I have a cousin who shares the same first name as me (we’re named after our late aunt), and we were raised together for a while, and she doesn’t have a middle name. So our parents used my middle name to differentiate us. And my younger brother goes by his middle name as well because he and our father have the same first name (which is John incidentally) and my brother doesn’t like how common John is. So maybe Zac and Kate named their son after family members or friends? Personally, I love the name…it sounds romantic and timeless.

Also, I like how all three brothers had a son first.

- Roise on May 30th, 2008

Sorta of surprised Zachary didn’t make it into the name alas other children right since the Hanson’s are so fertile. The Hanson men seem to produce more boys then girls. Yep if I ever have kids I’ll name them what they will be called unless they are a jr, II, III etc Either way congrats this really makes me feel old and I’m the same age as Taylor.

- jds on May 30th, 2008

i cant believe hes a daddy wow i feel old.i use to love hanson when i was little. awww well congrats to both of them and to all the hansons.

- krista on May 30th, 2008

I love all of the Hanson children’s names, and Zac’s son’s name is just beautiful. Zac confessed in an interview with Howard Stern, of all people, that he remained celebate until he and Kate where married. Unlike his two older brothers… but I digress. I believe the name Shepard has a religious meaning to it, but don’t quote me!

Hanson is the best!

- Kelly on May 30th, 2008

The Hanson men are all so handsome. Congratulations to them on the birth of their child.

- carla at somethingaboutbaby.com on May 31st, 2008

Congrats to Zac&Kate!!

I love their tradition of using the middle names.

Being Spanish (we usually have only one name here) I found quite funny that you are discussing this, as the common thing in US is to have a couple of names but you only use one, so why do you bother which one they use?? LoL I understand it is a cultural issue, but honestly it is sooo weird that you have an opinion on which name you should discard… To my eyes, it makes no sense to have more than one name and being called just by one of them, no matter if it is the first or the second name.

Anyway, congratulations to the whole Hanson clan

- Marta on May 31st, 2008

Congrats to the happy family!

As for the name, I love it. I don’t understand why some think it’s weird to call the child by their middle name.

See, I put the names in order of what sounds best.

Like a name we want to use, Robert Dylan H***. Robert flows better coming before Dylan, but Dylan is the name we are going to use. Or like the name Nora Eliot H***. Nora sounds better coming first even though we are going to call her Eliot.

At least, that is why I do it.

- Lauriloo on May 31st, 2008

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- Lisa411 on June 2nd, 2008

Kate’s maiden name is Tucker, and the name Ira comes from her grandfather. As for Shepard, I’m not sure.

- Patty on June 3rd, 2008

Wow! I couldn’t believe it when I read that “the little Hanson kid” was a dad, but then I realized that we’re the exact same age, and that I was married a few weeks after him. These young celebs having kids makes me really think “Hey I could do that too!”, but then I remember that they can actually afford health insurance wheras I cannot :sigh:. Oh well, back to my studies so I can someday afford to be a mommy.

- Kat on June 6th, 2008

Zac and Kate seem to be the most openly religious, so it’s not surprise they’ve chosen such a name. John, Ira, and Shepherd are all biblical in one way or another. John is derived from Yahweh, Ira (aside from being Kate’s grandfathers name) means watchful in Hebrew, and Shepherd is a great subtle biblical reference. Taylor’s son Ezra also has a Hebrew name, it means “help.” I think River could also be considered a subtle biblical reference.

I personally think it’s an adorable name, and I’m very happy for them. They seem very much in love!

- Chelsie on June 8th, 2008

Just a thought, maybe Shepherd because of how in the bible God is described as the shepherd and us as his sheep?
Just an idea hey!
I think its an awesome name, that asides, how exciting, congratulations on the new little one!

- michelle on June 21st, 2008

I’m a little late on finding this, But Congratulations Zac and Kate, I wish you many blessing for Shepherd

- Kristina on July 17th, 2008