Journalist Luke Russert and Wife Welcome Their First Baby—and Reveal Her Sweet Name
Journalist Luke Russert and Wife Welcome Their First Baby—and Reveal Her Sweet Name
Sari HitchinsTue, July 28, 2026 at 4:23 PM UTC
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Credit: Parents / Claire Harvey Photography
Journalist Luke Russert is a first-time father! The MS NOW co-host announced on his show, The Weeknight, that his wife, Laura, gave birth to their baby girl on July 25, 2026.
“Before we go, I want to take a moment to mention some breaking news in my own life,” Russert said on the show. “Over the weekend, I was blessed to become a father. My life forever changed on July 25 when Catalina Teresa Russert came into this world. Like her beautiful mom, Laura, her grandmothers on both sides, and my own godmother, whom she shares a birthday with, Catalina is a firstborn daughter, and we all know firstborn daughters run the world.”
His co-host, Symone Sanders Townsend, replied, “Can confirm!”
Credit: Claire Harvey Photography
Just before Father’s Day, Parentsspoke with Russert about becoming a dad. He talked about how much he learned from his own father, the late anchor of Meet the Press, Tim Russert. He also talked about what he was most excited about in becoming a father.
“I think the most exciting thing is just seeing that extension of you,” Russert said at the time. “Just going out of these ultrasounds and seeing a face there, and think, well, that looks like me, that looks like you, that’s just something I’m very excited to see. It’s this opportunity to mold something that is of me and my wife, and in a continuation of the lineage.”
He wouldn’t dish, though, on any possible names for the baby, only saying they were considering about 10 names.
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“We kind of go back and forth on that, and that’s going to be an interesting one, because my wife is kind of like, don’t we have to look at them first to like assign the name?” he told Parents.
Here are all of the details of the name they landed on, though—Catalina Teresa.
Catalina -
Origin: Spanish
Meaning: Pure
Similar Names and Variations: Catelina, Catalena, Katalena, Catherine
Famous Namesakes: Catalina de Aragón, also known as Catherine, was the first wife of England’s King Henry VIII. Catalina Island is also off the coast of California.
Peak Popularity: The name Catalina has been steadily rising in popularity, peaking at number 111 in 2025 on the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) top 1,000 baby names list.
Teresa -
Origin: Greek
Meaning: Harvester and hunter
Similar Names and Variations: Theresa, Tessa, Terri, Terry, Teri
Famous Namesakes: The most famous Teresa was Mother Teresa, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Catholic nun. There’s also Teresa Giudice, best known as an original member of The Real Housewives of New Jersey.
Peak Popularity: Teresa reached peak popularity on the SSA’s list from 1961 to 1963 when it reached number 18. It held steady in the top 100 until 1981, and now sits at 911 as of 2025.
Credit: Claire Harvey Photography
Russert says he’ll be stepping away from The Weeknight until September to be present in Catalina’s life and “be the best girl dad that I can,” adding that they are “over the moon.”
He ended the show acknowledging he’s not going to get any sleep and by paying tribute to some very important people.
“Shout out to all the labor and delivery nurses,” he said. “You guys are the salt of the earth.”
on Parents
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
