An Expat Family with Earthy Style
And down-to-earth baby names
The Savage family has a minimal, bohemian lifestyle in Tulum, Mexico. They recently welcomed their third child, a son named Townes Sterling, who is their first baby born abroad.
I spoke with Stevi, Matt (and Baby Townes!) for How I Named My Baby, where we discussed unique baby names, life in Mexico, and Paloma’s name change (she was originally Josephine).
Below, see extras from the interview as well as ways to shop the Savage family’s style.
Connecting the kids’ names: They’re all round names with an O sound and six letters. Rhodes has a musical element, because of the Rhodes piano, when we came across Townes I also made the music connection. And Paloma means dove!
On outdoor living: Our kids do not wear shoes. They always lose them because they take them off and don’t remember where they are. So they just don’t have shoes right now!
Their best baby name advice: There’s a lot of pressure from family, friends, or even trends with names. But it’s most important to think about how a name makes you feel and think about how your child might feel with that name.
Name suggestions from the kids: Paloma was like, “It’s going to be a girl and we’re going to call her Princess!” Rhodes is really just an easygoing kid, so we’d drop a name and he’d be like, “Yeah, I love it!” And then for days, he would call the baby by that name to test it out.
Their incredible last name: Savage just invites you to have another cool name attached to it. We took that invitation when we named Rhodes.
Their baby must-haves: We’re very simple and don’t need much for a newborn! Just basic onesies, neutral blankets, and a sheepskin for the floor. We do love the Artipoppe carrier — it’s a splurge, but it’s the best.
Read the full interview below, and learn more about Stevi and Matt on Instagram.