In November of 2019, Rachael Thornton and Danny Gosper of New South Wales, Australia, welcomed their second child, a baby boy.
Born amid the devastating Gospers Mountain fire — Australia’s first “mega-blaze” — the baby was named Smokey Thomas Gosper.
While Ms Thornton was initially against the name, she said that she “felt like it was meant to be”, given the bushfire circumstances.
The baby’s name is also a nod to his “convict ancestor” Thomas Roker Gosper, whose middle name can be traced back to the Dutch word rook, meaning “smoke.”
Smokey’s older sister is named Mima.
Sources:
- Stirrat, Catriona. “‘Fresh hope’: Baby Smokey born amid bushfire devastation.” Sydney Morning Herald 2 Feb. 2020.
- Nguyen, Kevin, Philippa McDonald and Maryanne Taouk. “Anatomy of a ‘mega-blaze’.” ABC News 26 Jul. 2020.
- Hanks, Patrick, Simon Lenarcic and Peter McClure. (Eds.) Dictionary of American Family Names. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022.
Image: Adapted from Gospers Mountain Fire by Meganesia under CC BY-SA 4.0.
[Latest update: July 2025]