Conan O’Brien has many devotees, but Alex Rodriguez and Holly Clary of Grand Prairie, Texas may take the cake. It’s hard to deny their fandom when you see the photos of the Conan-themed birthday bash they threw for their one-year-old son—whose name is Conan.
Baby Conan’s name is no coincidence. In fact, for Rodriguez and Clary, it seemed meant to be.
“I mentioned to Alex, on year two of dating, that my dad had wanted to name me Conan before he found out I was a girl,” Clary tells LateNighter. That info caught Rodriguez’s attention, as he’d been a lifelong fan of O’Brien.
“Alex and I agreed that if we ever had children I would decide on a girl’s name and he would decide on a boy’s.”
“When we found out we were having a boy, the first name Alex mentioned was Conan,” Clary recalls. “He was set on the name pretty early on in the pregnancy.”
When their child was born, things seemed especially meant to be: their Conan was born with red hair. “Alex and I looked at each other and joked that we had manifested his hair by choosing to name him Conan,” says Clary.
“I had heard of Conan growing up, but hadn’t really gotten a chance to watch his show,” Clary admits. “It wasn’t until I started dating Alex that I was thrown into the world that is Conan O’Brien. I learned all about his history with late night, his work during the writers strike, [and] how amazing of a boss and human being he is.”
Fourteen years later, the couple remain devoted fans of O’Brien’s work, from his late-night shows and travel programs to his podcasts. (Rodriguez, a dedicated listener of Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend, often refers to baby Conan as his ‘little Taaaaayto.’)
So when Conan Rodriguez’s first birthday rolled around, the party theme was a no brainer.
“We like to be a little extra and do more for first birthdays,” says Clary, “since we see it as a big milestone in our children’s lives.”
“I jokingly mentioned making Conan’s birthday a late-night show theme,” Rodriguez adds. “Thus, the idea was born.”
Rodriguez and Clary staged The ONE Night Show Starring Conan Rodriguez, a DIY-heavy endeavor that included handmade decorations, a custom-ordered piñata of O’Brien’s head, and a mini replica of O’Brien’s late-era Late Night desk for baby Conan to sit behind—complete with mug, retro microphone, and a city backdrop adorned by a giant moon.
The couple took inspiration from a backstage craft service tables for the party spread, and even served cupcakes that featured their Conan’s face donning O’Brien’s famed orange pompadour. The family wore Team Coco shirts, while the one-year-old of honor wore his best talk show host attire, right down to an O’Brien-esque blue suit jacket and necktie.
Rodriguez, Clary, and baby Conan have yet to meet O’Brien, but the child’s namesake remains a presence in their lives. “When all of us are home on the weekends, we like to wind down by playing clips from Conan O’Brien’s various shows,” Clary says. “He has an endless amount of clips that you can find on YouTube, so we usually just let it play continuously and enjoy. It’s our way of relaxing and getting some good belly laughs in before bedtime. Our Conan already loves watching his shows with us.”
And the Conan name remains one they’re proud to have bestowed on their son. “We feel honored that our son is named after such a wonderful person,” says Rodriguez.
