Grateful to have found the featured photo of the day… You’ll see why at the end of this post.

Like a lot of people, I wondered a bit about the identity of Josh and Anna Duggar’s latest baby. I mean, I wasn’t obsessive about it or anything, but I have been following Josh and Anna’s story for years. Of course, I’ve also been watching Josh’s impending legal case regarding his apparent habit of viewing extremely inappropriate things on the Internet. I have a feeling Josh’s court case is going to be disastrous, and he’s probably not going to be in the free world for much longer.

I certainly won’t be sorry if Josh goes to prison in the highly likely event that prosecutors can prove that he’s guilty of his alleged crime. The evidence against him is pretty compelling, and it’s not like he doesn’t have a history of being a sexual predator. Indeed, just a few years ago, Josh Duggar was busted for having an “Ashley Madison” account. What is an “Ashley Madison” account? It’s basically a Web site where married people go to hook up and have affairs with other people who aren’t their spouses.

Josh Duggar is one of Ashley Madison’s most notable former clients. On August 19, 2015, Josh was outed on Gawker.com as a paid member of the site. His identity was part of a hacking effort undertaken on July 15, 2015 by an outfit called The Impact Team. According to their research, someone living at Josh’s former address and using his credit card, was on the site from February 2013 until May 2015, and he had spent $986.76 for two different Ashley Madison accounts. The user was hoping to find a woman who would satisfy his desires for:

“Conventional Sex,” Experimenting with Sex Toys,” One-Night Stands,” “Open to Experimentation,” “Gentleness,” “Good With Your Hands,” Sensual Massage,” “Extended Foreplay/Teasing,” “Bubble Bath for 2,” “Likes to Give Oral Sex,” “Likes to Receive Oral Sex,” “Someone I Can Teach,” “Someone Who Can Teach Me,” “Kissing,” “Cuddling & Hugging,” “Sharing Fantasies,” “Sex Talk.”

And Josh… –or the person living in Josh’s house and using his credit card– listed these “turn ons”:

“A Professional/Well Groomed,” “Stylish/Classy,” “Casual Jeans/T-shirt Type,” “Muscular/Fit Body,” ”Petite Figure,” “Tall Height,” “Short Height,” “Long Hair,””Short Hair,” “Girl Next Door,” “Naughty Girl,” “Sense of Humor,” “Imagination,” “Creative and Adventurous,” “Relaxed and Easy Going,” “Aggressive/Take Charge Nature,” “Confidence,” “Discretion/Secrecy,” “A Good Listener,” “Good Personal Hygiene,” “Average Sex Drive,” “High Sex Drive,” “Dislikes Routine,” “Has a Secret Love Nest,” “Disease Free,” “Drug Free,” and “Natural Breasts.”

Ashley Feinberg, the Gawker.com reporter, wrote that when Josh was living in Oxon Hill, Maryland, lecturing the masses about the “right” way to live, Christian ideals, and “family friendly values”, Josh (or his evil twin ghost) started a second Ashley Madison account. Josh also did a poor job of trying to conceal his true identity. Gawker.com reports “the birthday listed in the data for Duggar’s first account is February 3, 1988, one month off Duggar’s actual birthday of March 3, 1988. The birthday listed for the second account is March 2, 1988.” Based on the news about Josh’s most recent sex related scandal, his online privacy skills haven’t evolved much, but I digress.

So what does all of this have to do with Josh and Anna’s 7th baby? Well, yesterday, it was reported in the news that Josh and Anna have named their latest baby Madyson Lily. Anna (I can assume, since Josh isn’t allowed online) shared a very cute picture of the baby, who was born on October 23, 2021 at 2:39am, weighing 7 pounds, 9 ounces, and measuring 20 inches. Many people who follow the Duggars, and are disgusted by Josh’s perversions, are shocked by the name, since it will forever link the child to her father’s dalliances in extramarital affairs, as he hypocritically promoted “clean, Christian living”.

Madyson joins her six siblings in the “M crowd”. Josh and Anna, like Josh’s parents, have chosen to stick with names that have the same first letter. So, while all of Josh’s siblings (except for Michelle’s grandnephew Tyler, who is being raised by Ma and Pa Duggar) have names starting with the letter “J”, Josh and Anna have given their kids “M” names, I guess, to honor Michelle Duggar or maybe Josh’s deceased grandmother, Mary Duggar. Or maybe they just like “M” names. Who knows?

Other people who have commented on this surprising “turn of events” have listed a variety of perfectly nice “M” names the Duggar couple could have chosen for “tiny, precious Madyson”. Off the top of my head, there’s Melissa, Mariah, Marcia, Madelyn, Megan, Melanie, Maeve, Margaret, Martha, Matilda, Marcia, Maura, Moira, Maren, and Millicent… just to name a few. And yet they chose “Madyson”, with a bastardized spelling from the usual “Madison”. Of course, it’s not the first time Josh and Anna have chosen alternative spellings for members of their brood. They gave eldest daughter, Mackynzie, a differently spelled name, too. They also gave their sixth child, Maryella, a “different” name.

I remember when the name “Madison” became popular. Back in 1984, Tom Hanks was just an up and coming movie star who was best known for being on the show, Bosom Buddies, which I remember watching during its first run. That year, the movie Splash came out, making Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah household names. Daryl Hannah played the love interest for Hanks, a beautiful mermaid whose real name was unpronounceable by the human tongue. She was encouraged by Hanks’s character, Allen, to choose a more conventional name for herself. Noting that they are walking on Madison Avenue, the mermaid chooses the name “Madison”, confusing everyone… Next thing you know, it’s a popular girls’ name, and remains so 37 years later.

If I had ever had a child, I probably would have chosen a more conventional, traditional name, even though we have dogs named Arran and Noyzi. Arran was named after a beautiful Scottish island we visited weeks before we met him. Noyzi was originally named Noizy, but his paperwork has the name spelled differently. Also, as a former English major, I couldn’t abide the spelling “Noizy”. I kept wanting to change it to Noisy. Anyway, Noyzi was named after an Albanian rapper by the guy who found him, and I just didn’t have the heart to change his name after all of the upheaval he went through to move to Germany from Kosovo.

But when it comes to human beings that might have come from my womb, I probably would not have gone “mod”. I seem to prefer tried and true names… although I wish to God my mother had chosen a name other than “Jennifer” for me. That was like the “Kayla” of 1972. I think Kayla is a pretty name, by the way. I have a cousin with that name. At the same time, I probably would have chosen a name like Alexandra, or something, for a daughter of mine.

I think Madyson Lily needs all the prayers she can get, as do her siblings, and their mother. I don’t approve of Anna’s decisions, but I realize that she was raised in a cult and has married into the mother of all fundie cult families. Her husband and her father-in-law are hyper-controlling dicks who literally screw over the women they purport to love. I realize that Anna doesn’t have many choices, and every time she has another baby, her choices become even more limited than they were before. So, while a lot of people condemn her for staying with Josh, all I can muster is basic empathy and compassion, and hope that somehow, she’ll be okay. Of course, this is all depending on the outcome of Josh’s upcoming legal battle.

I really do hope Josh’s children will be okay. It’s not easy to have a father who has become a notorious sex pest, especially one who has gotten away with his misdeeds for so many years and is now about to face the music. The youngest of Josh and Anna Duggar’s children were filmed as they were born. One of them was actually born on the toilet in the home now occupied by Jessa and Ben Seewald.

Jessa and three of her sisters are also among Josh’s victims, as he admitted to molesting them when they were kids. Ma and Pa Duggar neglected to get real psychological help for Josh. Instead, they shaved his head and sent him off to do hard labor and pray. Maybe working with a mental health professional wouldn’t have made a difference in Josh’s destiny the long run, but at least they could have said they tried.

Now, Josh has a wife and seven children, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s actively trying to get Anna pregnant again, although with any luck, her recent pregnancy, and assuming she’s exclusively breastfeeding, that may not be possible. On the other hand, the Duggars are birthing obsessed, and I’m sure they know the best ways of getting pregnant quickly. So, if Anna does get pregnant with #8, I can’t say I’ll be surprised about it. I hope it doesn’t happen, though. Even if Josh, by some miracle, doesn’t end up in prison, I think they– and the public– have had quite enough.

Oh… and just to make this whole weird baby name choice thing even ickier, I just did a Yahoo! image search of the name, “Madyson Lily”. I was looking for a potential featured screenshot, but the results of my search were not cute pics that are suitable for featured photo status on my blog. The photos that came up– at least on Yahoo!– are all of an extremely buxom woman in her underwear– perhaps even the type of woman Josh fantasizes about. I don’t know if the baby’s shared name with a sexy model is a coincidence, but it sure is an unfortunate development for that baby, who already has enough challenges ahead of her. Below is a very small sampling of the search results, which I am sharing because the model is technically clothed. There are a lot of other photos like this one, which makes me think it’s a smart thing to Google names before you bestow them on your children, especially if you give them names with an unconventional spelling. How embarrassing!

Edited to add: I tried the search on Google and got more conventional results. It looks like the Yahoo! and Bing searches included the conventional spelling of “Madison” in the results. Still… it makes me wonder if Josh chose the name. I wouldn’t put it past him.