Pregnant mother reveals her baby's name after viral search of cemeteries

• In May, Haley Hodge was criticized after sharing her search for baby names in cemeteries. Her viral TikTok reached 2.7 viewers on the app
• This month, Hodge announced that she will name her baby Salem, a name she and her family found on the gravestone of a deceased veteran in a North Carolina cemetery.
• The pregnant content writer, who is already a mother of three other children, previously spoke to PEOPLE and defended her unusual way of finding name inspiration

After her search for a baby name attracted some criticism online, Haley Hodge has finally found a name for her little one. And yes, it's one she found in a cemetery.

In May, Hodge made headlines for her family's unusual naming strategy. One of her TikToks, which filmed her exploring a cemetery, reached 2.7 million viewers and sparked mixed reactions. Some were unsettled by the idea of ​​drawing inspiration from the dead, while others supported Hodge's unconventional thinking.

Hodge and her husband, Rivers, found their future child's name on a tombstone. Last week, the expectant mother of three — and soon to be four — posted a TikTok to announce that her daughter will be named Salem. In the video's overlaid text, Hodge shared that the name means “peaceful, safe” and “complete.”

The TikTok creator also explained why Salem stood out when they were looking for ideas at the Old Smithville Burying Ground in Southport, North Carolina. According to her post, the moniker was inspired by a U.S. Coast Guard veteran who fought in World War II, as shown by his engraved headstone.

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Hodge wrote over mixed footage of herself at the cemetery and on the beach, mentioning a “family connection to the water” as her daughter was named after the Salem River, a tributary of the Delaware River.

She continued to talk about her baby's namesake, who died in 1992: “Our lives did not overlap by about eight months. He was married and had no children of his own,” she said, adding, “But hopefully he's OK with being the honorary grandpa for our little girl.”

She ended her TikTok with a photo of the late Salem's tombstone, where the family laid flowers. As a text overlay, the pregnant mother wrote, “Thank you Salem for inspiring us to breathe new life into your name.”

According to her caption, the family has not yet agreed on a middle name for their daughter.

When Hodge first shared videos of her cemetery search on TikTok, several social media users were unnerved by the spooky vibe. However, she defended her search for a baby name to PEOPLE, explaining that she has never felt uncomfortable at gravesites.

“I just saw it as me going to the place where people's grandparents are, their best friends, their loved ones. I don't see it as a place of evil,” the content creator said at the time. “These are people who lived lives, hopefully good lives, and were good people.”

Some comments referenced superstitions that prohibit pregnant women from visiting cemeteries. Hodge said she expected backlash due to different cultural views on death, but personally, the thought of spending time near the deceased did not distress her.

“If there were such a thing as souls out there, I don't think they would just stay in a cemetery,” she told PEOPLE in May. “We have babies over a morgue in a hospital when you give birth in a hospital, so we're kind of surrounded by that.”

For her first three children — daughter Finley, 10, and sons Banks, 1, and Crew, 3 — Hodge looked for more traditional names, often writing down nicknames she'd heard on TV. This time, she hoped to have an interesting story to tell her daughter when asked about her heritage.

Similarly, Hodge told PEOPLE that she decided to document the family's cemetery adventure on camera so that she could one day share it with her future daughter.

“I didn’t even want to post [the videos],” she explains, though the pregnant mom eventually decided to upload her naming process for the world to admire. “I thought, 'You know what? It's really cool to share this' … I knew it would get attention because it's different.”