Mom gives celestial name to baby born during total solar eclipse

Alicia Alvarez gave birth at 1:04 p.m. in mansfield, Texas.

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April 9, 2024, 12:21 PM ET

• 5 min read

A Texas mother welcomed a baby girl during Monday's total solar eclipse and named her Sol, which means "the sun" in Spanish.

Alicia Alvarez, 34, told "Good Morning America" she knew she wanted to choose a celestial name for her second child since she had already named her first child Luna, or "moon," in Spanish.

"I loved how the sun and the moon sounded together. I was like, 'Oh, that's [a] perfect name," the Fort Worth resident explained. "And then just to have her during the eclipse was, like, obviously not planned."

Alicia Alvarez gave birth to her second child, a daughter named Sol Celeste, on April 8, 2024, the same day a total solar eclipse unfolded in Mansfield, Texas.Methodist Mansfield Medical Center

Alvarez said she went into labor earlier than expected but didn't think she would deliver on Monday, ahead of her April 17 due date.

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"My doctor had joked -- Dr. [Carolyn] Kollar -- she joked, 'Oh, you're gonna have this baby on the eclipse. So then you have your sun and the moon,'" Alvarez recalled. "And I just didn't pay her any attention."

But at 1:04 p.m. on Monday, as the total solar eclipse was unfolding over Mansfield, Texas, Alvarez and her husband Carlos Alvarez welcomed their second daughter, Sol Celeste Alvarez.

Sol Celeste Alvarez was born on April 8. 2024, at 1:04 p.m. CT at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center in Mansfield, Texas.
Methodist Mansfield Medical Center

Alvarez said she was able to deliver naturally and without an epidural at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center. Sol weighed in at 6 pounds, 7 ounces and was 20 inches long, according to her mother.

"She opened her eyes as soon as she got out," Alvarez said. "She was like, 'I'm ready to see the eclipse!' ... She was like, 'I want to see the world. I need to see this.'"

Alicia Alvarez gave birth to her second child, a daughter named Sol Celeste, on April 8, 2024, the same day a total solar eclipse unfolded in Mansfield, Texas.Methodist Mansfield Medical Center

Big sister Luna Laura, 4, has already met her younger sister, and Alvarez said Sol is "doing great," eating frequently and "smiling a lot."

Alvarez said she plans on telling Sol her unique birth story when she's a little older.

"I definitely think there's meanings in everything. She put a meaning behind her name," she said.

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