With a due date set for days after the election, expectant mom Roslyn was looking forward to casting her vote for change. But when this little cutie arrived just hours before the polls opened, Roslyn’s obstetrician told her she would have to sit this one out. She called on relatives to get her an absentee ballot, but they couldn’t make it happen in time. Roslyn wasn’t about to be sidelined at this remarkable moment, so she marked her choice for president on a birth certificate instead of a ballot.
Besides his auspicious name, baby Barack has something else in common with the new president: He was conceived in Hawaii, where his dad, a member of the armed forces who is now in Iraq, was stationed at the time. Barack means “the chosen one” or “blessed,” and David means “prophet.” Both are biblical names, which was important to his parents. “I asked his dad if he’d mind naming his firstborn son after his commander in chief, and he said, ‘That’s great! I always knew my son was going to be famous anyway,’ ” Roslyn says.
Barack David was born November 3, 2008, weighing in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces.