Eva Mendes tells the world the reason for her daughter's name.

Eva Mendes has spoken publicly about her daughter’s name for the first time on the Wendy Williams show earlier this week.

The 41-year-old actress who is the mother to 1-year-old daughter Esmeralda with partner (and sexiest man alive) Ryan Gosling, was asked where Esmeralda’s name came from by the TV host.

Mendes replied, “We love The Hunchback of Notre Dame, we loved the name, the cartoon and the novel… It just kind of kept coming back to us. It’s actually a very popular Latin name, so it’s easy for my father and certain family members that still don’t speak English to pronounce. That was a good selling point.”

The Hollywood couple celebrated their daughter's first birthday over the weekend with a low-key family get together at their Los Angeles home.

Reports state that Mendes and Gosling had a very un-Hollywood party for their little girl, with only 20 close family and friends in attendance. Mendes' mum and sister were there, as well as Gosling's sister who brought a homemade cake with her. How sweet.

When asked about her relationship with her family, Mendes gushed over how supportive and helpful they had been in helping raise Esmeralda. Mendes went on to explain that she didn't need a nanny because her family are her 'help'.

"I’ve never appreciated my family so much, they’ve been amazing. I don’t technically have a nanny, but I do have help. I’m certainly not anti-nanny, you do what you need to do as a parent, but I’m so grateful that I have help with my family and [Ryan’s] family," she concluded.

Check out Eva Mendes' interview with Wendy Williams where she discusses her daughter's name in the video below. 

What was your reason for your baby's name?

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