Turning double digits! Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean and wife Rochelle McLean celebrated daughter Elliot’s 10th birthday — her first since changing her name earlier this year.
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“MY GIRL is 10 today! 🎉🎂🎁,” Rochelle, 41, wrote via Instagram on Monday, November 28, alongside a sweet snap of Elliott in a Britney Spears tee. “I’m going to smother her in love, hugs and kisses today! So proud of the little lady she’s growing into♥️ Forever grateful the creator chose me to be her momma 🙏🏻 I love you baby girl 🥰. Happy Birthday @elliott_jaymes1127.”
The makeup artist, who also shares 5-year-old daughter Lyric with the 44-year-old musician, revealed that her preteen had decided to make a name change in August after realizing she preferred a moniker that felt unique only to her.
“For those asking… not that it’s anyone’s business but Elliot’s name change is not a gender thing,” Rochelle wrote via her Instagram Story at the time, noting that Elliot has changed her “a few times” throughout her life.
“Last year she asked us to start calling her Elliot and it stuck. She wanted something unique that no one else had. (There are so many Ava’s.) I didn’t really see the harm in respecting her desire to be unique,” the Arizona native added.
Rochelle went on to explain that it’s a “little odd” that parents get to “choose names for people we haven’t even met yet and expect them to forever [identify] as that person.”
AJ, for his part, opened up about the name change during a September appearance on Today. The singer admitted he was “taken aback” by his child’s request at first, not knowing whether it was a “transgender thing.”
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“It is not, but it is a personal choice,” he said, adding that while she will “always be Ava” to him, both he and Rochelle respect their daughter’s choices. “Whatever reasoning it is, that’s hers, and I’m going to support it a million percent. My wife will [too].”
The “I Want It That Way” artist, who tied the knot with Rochelle in 2011, exclusively opened up to Us Weekly about his love of fatherhood in July.
“Obviously, daughters look up to their dad and it’s such a good feeling. Honestly, I love to come home and to see them and to see their expressions on their face whenever I come back home,” he gushed. “To be able to go on daddy and daughter dates and get our nails done and do all that kind of stuff, to me, is just awesome and there’s nothing better for me than having girls. I don’t think I would know what to do if I had boys to be honest with you.”
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However, the Florida native also revealed that he wasn’t planning on expanding his family anytime soon. “Nope, I’m done. My wife’s done. Even numbers [are] good for me and her. Two is a good number, and there’s already a four-year gap between the two of them, so I think we’re good,” he quipped.
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