Tennis legend Serena Williams celebrated the first birthday of her daughter, Adira River Williams just a few days ago. To mark the occasion, Williams shared new photos of herself and her daughter on Instagram, where she has 17.4 million followers. She also revealed the meaning behind her daughter's name.
"A year ago today - August 15th - I gave birth to my second baby girl, Adira River Ohanian. She is a true light. Here’s a peek inside my maternity shoot," Williams wrote.
"Adira is a girl’s name of Hebrew origin and means ‘mighty,’ ‘strong,’ and ‘majestic.’ The elegant name is popular in many cultures around the world. Adira is the feminine form of the classic name Adir. It is a Biblical name, meaning ‘Strong One.’"
The legendary former tennis player, of course, has not forgotten her eldest daughter Olympia and posted a third post in which she wrote: "Olympia is always there for me. Before having a second child, I always wondered, 'How could I love anything as much as I love Olympia?' Then Adira came along … she is so special, so fun, so funny, so loving, so sweet and so strong!!! You see, God makes your heart get bigger. Because my love for Olympia has not dimmed. My heart simply now is doubled the size and I have a greater capacity to love more!"
Serena received thousands of comments on her posts, including from well-known figures.
Serena began her career in 1997, and within a few years became the undisputed number one tennis player in the world with 39 Grand Slam titles (23 in singles, 14 in women's doubles and 2 in mixed doubles). She is the younger sister of Venus Williams, who herself was ranked number one in the world, but Serena became the top tennis player in the family.