Copyright TODAY
Before she ever hit “post,” Kailee Zak braced for the reaction her baby name would stir. “The second I shared it on TikTok, people started weighing in,” Zak, who is 35 weeks pregnant with a girl, tells TODAY.com. Even among family, feedback to the name was “mixed.” In her viral TikTok video, the 22-year-old from Central Texas revealed that she and her husband, Clayton, had chosen Lukacey Lynn for their unborn daughter, who will join big brother Kayson, 4, in December. The name Lukacey nods to many parts of Zak’s life, most visibly the trademark Lucchese cowboy boots, which make a pink cameo in the clip. Despite different spellings, the name and the boot brand are pronounced the same. "The most special name to us," she wrote. "So excited for our girl to be here." Online comments ranged from amusement to skepticism. Some questioned the unconventional spelling, while others offered reminders that “we’re naming babies who will one day be adults.” A few slipped in pop culture jabs (“Okay, Renesmee”) or predicted the girl would grow up to go by “Kacey.” Yet amid the teasing, there were also notes of admiration for the name’s originality. As one wrote, “Am I the only the only one who actually loves it? I think it’s so different and beautiful.” "Usually not a fan of 'unique' names but this is adorable so girly." "Lukacey is a little too close to Lunacy for me..." "How the hell do you pronounce that?" "Me in healthcare reading this and thinking of leukocytes." "I’m a teacher. Don’t. Do. It." "I know someone named named lukacey! She loves her name." "This is adorable! If the next 1 is a boy name him Stetson!" For Zak, though, Lukacey isn’t just a name, it’s a reflection of her story. I got pregnant with my son when I was 17 and still in high school,” Zak tells TODAY.com. “Being home with a baby and not going to college, I sort of lost myself a little bit and forgot who I was as a person.” Eventually, she entered what she calls her “Western influencing era” on social media, a period when she reconnected with her country roots, relcaimed her sense of style, and found her way back to herself. The Lucchese cowboy boots quickly became her signature, symbolizing the confidence and individuality she was rediscovering. “I know it sounds silly, but those boots are just so meaningful to me," Zak says. It also weaves in pieces of the women who have shaped her life, from her mother and sisters to her late mother-in-law, Lynn. whose name inspired her daughter’s middle name. Instead of letting the backlash get to her, Zak’s learned to take it all in stride, and even find the humor in it. “Some of the comments were hysterical,” she says. “I couldn’t stop laughing.”
