Bedford mum names baby girl after pandemic - and says she has no regrets

A mum who named her baby after the pandemic said she has "no regrets" - and doesn't care what anyone thinks.

Jodi Cross, 36, from Wixams, fell pregnant with her first daughter during the second Covid lockdown in 2021 after a year of trying to start a family.

And Jodi and her husband, Rob, 36, an electrical business director, named the little girl Lockie - after 'lockdown'.

Hairdresser Jodi credited the lockdowns as being the reason they finally were able to get pregnant - and said it was a "really good time" in their lives despite the pandemic.

She said: "We had been trying for a year to get pregnant and lockdown meant I was furloughed and Rob was working less.

"I think we just relaxed a bit because we had so much more time than we normally would, and then we found out I was pregnant.

"When she was born there was the new strain of Covid coming about - Omicron - so we knew she'd be a lockdown baby. So we named her Lockie for lockdown - we really liked the name, and lockdown was a good time in our lives because it was so relaxing.

"People might not like the name, but I don't care what they think."

Jodi and Rob were in the same class at school but lost contact, until meeting again on Tinder in November 2019.

Romance quickly blossomed and they started dating - until the country hit a standstill in March 2020 as the nationwide lockdown began.

The couple moved in together and began trying for a baby – but had no luck for a year.

Jodi said: "I ended up taking over a little salon during lockdown because I had been on furlough a long time.

"By this point we had been trying for a year and thought pregnancy wasn't going to happen so started to focus on work instead.

"A week later I found out I was pregnant."

The couple were overjoyed - and even surprised their families by getting married in secret when Jodi was seven months pregnant in October 2021.

Jodi said Lockie’s unusual name represented a happy time for them.

She said: "We know lots of people didn't enjoy lockdown but for us, it was a good time. We actually had the best time in lockdown.

"With both of us being home, we had no worries and found it really relaxing. We named her after a good time, not a bad one."

She added not only was 'Lockie' based on lockdown but also several coincidences leading up to her birth where the word kept appearing again and again.

She said: "There was a girl who came into the salon whose surname was Lockey at the time we were considering names - and then we got married in Gretna Green in Scotland, where there are lots of locks.

"The primary reason was definitely lockdown, but the name just felt right."

Nobody has ever said anything bad about the name to Jodi - although she says it's possible people have behind her back.

Jodi added: "You never know, other people might hear our story now - and next year it might be the most popular baby name."