Mariska Hargitay Once Revealed the Special Meaning Behind Her Son August’s Name
Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay looked forward to becoming a mother. When she gave birth to a son, she and her husband, Peter Hermann, put a lot of thought into his name.
Mariska Hargitay explained where the name August came from
Hargitay gave birth to her oldest son, August, in 2006. But the name she gave her son wasn’t something she and Hermann picked on a whim. The month August already held a lot of significance for Hargitay and her family.
“Everyone is assuming it’s because we were married in August, which is part of it,” Hargitay once explained to TV Guide. “Peter’s birthday is also in August and it is our favorite month, but it’s also a name that has been in Peter’s family for 200 years. We wanted to give him a European name, something literary and artistic, like the Swedish playwright August Strindberg and the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. It’s a strong name that means ‘majestic’ and ‘revered’ and ‘noble,’ like a peaceful ruler.”
“We wanted to give him something different,” Hargitay added. “Not crazy weird, like Burlap.”
Similarly to her husband, Hargitay also allowed her son August to have more than three names. In this instance, August would’ve been following in his father’s footsteps. But Hargitay didn’t want her son to have quite as many names as Hermann’s.
“My husband has five names — Karl Peter Frederic Albert Hermann,” Hargitay said. “He wanted to do that to our kid, but I’m a big fan of first, middle and last, so I said he could have one extra.”
August’s full name is August Miklos Friedrich Hermann.
How August inspired Mariska Hargitay to stay in shape
As is the case after most pregnancies, Hargitay had to go through a careful training and diet regimen to reclaim her figure. But after August was born, her motivation for maintaining a fit body wasn’t for aesthetic purposes. She did so in order to keep up with her children.
“It’s not about being fat or thin. I’m a full-figured woman. It’s about how am I going to keep up my energy,” Hargitay once told People.
“If I’m supporting myself, I’m supporting my kid. If I’m happy and healthy, I can be a better wife and mom, I can do a better job,” she added.
Keeping fit meant avoiding certain foods like sugars and wheat, while drinking wine in careful moderation. At the time, Hargitay also wanted to maintain her energy in case she expanded her family. Although she wasn’t sure she’d have more kids.
“It’s hard. I think a lot of it is up to God and nature and we’ll see what happens,” she said.
Mariska Hargitay revealed August thinks adoption was his idea
Hargitay and Hermann eventually did end up expanding their family through adoption. They adopted daughter Amaya Josephine Hermann and Andrew Nicolas Hermann in 2011.
“I was really letting the chips fall as they might, because I do think so much is up to God. I always said, ‘I don’t know how this is going to end up. I don’t know if I’m going to get pregnant and have twins. I don’t know…if somebody’s going to leave a baby on my doorstep.’ But I really did think that down the line, Peter and I would adopt a child. That was always part of the plan,” Hargitay once told Good Housekeeping.
Hargitay confided, however, that August took credit for the adoptions due to timing.
“August thinks this was all his idea,” she said. “He said, ‘I want a baby sister,’ and Amaya came. Then he said, ‘I want a baby brother,’ and Andrew came. August is feeling pretty good and pretty powerful!”
