Since April 2, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and his wife, actress Hailee Steinfeld, had kept one detail about their daughter entirely private. Fans had seen only glimpses of tiny hands and feet on social media and followed the early days of parenthood through Steinfeld’s Beau Society newsletter. The baby’s name remained a closely guarded secret until June 19.
Feb 6, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Josh Allen and Hailee Steinfeld on the red carpet before Super Bowl LIX NFL Honors at Saenger Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The couple has been intentional about protecting their privacy since they started dating in 2023. They tied the knot on May 31, 2025, in Santa Barbara, announced the pregnancy via a joint Instagram video in December 2025, and confirmed their daughter’s birth on April 2, 2026, through a brief joint statement in the newsletter, without sharing the name or other details. Not even the Bills’ official social media accounts posted anything beyond a simple image of Allen with a thumbs-up and the caption “Girl dad.”
That changed on June 19 when Steinfeld published a new edition of her Beau Society Substack newsletter. Steinfeld addressed the letter directly to her daughter, using the baby’s full name for the first time publicly. The name is Harper Haize Allen. “Dearest Harper, I’m in awe of you,” Steinfeld wrote. “You’ve been here for only a short while now, and somehow it feels as though you’ve always been ours.” Josh Allen reposted excerpts from the newsletter on his Instagram Stories with just two emojis leaving no further words.
The emotional letter detailed the beautiful yet exhausting reality of early motherhood, including midnight diaper changes, milk-drunk smiles, and how the experience has made her softer, stronger, and more patient. E! Online published extended excerpts, including Steinfeld’s description of the experience as ‘beautiful and exhausting’ and her note about measuring time now in ‘ounces, naps missed, and diaper changes’. It closed powerfully with: “And even though I know I am meant to guide you through this life, Harper Haize Allen, the truth is that already, you have taught me far more than I could ever teach you.”
Steinfeld also noted that Allen is now ‘officially outnumbered’ when it comes to picking a movie for family movie nights. During mandatory minicamp in late May, Josh Allen had told reporters that their baby’s current favorite book is The Pout-Pout Fish and that fatherhood had shifted his focus toward being the best version of himself.
The Private Name Reveal After Two Months of Secrecy from Josh Allen and Hailee
Steinfeld’s newsletter has served as the controlled channel through which the couple has shared every major family update since the pregnancy announcement.Steinfeld used the newsletter to document her postpartum recovery, first Mother’s Day, and their first wedding anniversary on May 31, which the couple spent watching their wedding video at home with Harper.
Allen is currently participating in OTAs under new head coach Joe Brady, who replaced Sean McDermott following a second-round playoff exit. In 2025, Allen threw for 3,668 yards and 25 touchdowns while adding 14 rushing touchdowns. He enters his age-30 season with a settled personal life and a roster that added first-round wide receiver Luther Burden III in April.
In the June 3 issue of Beau Society, Steinfeld shared details of the couple’s quiet first wedding anniversary on May 31 – watching their ceremony video at home with Harper, eating homemade mushroom pappardelle, gooey butter cake, and wedding soup while shedding happy tears. Steinfeld described a quiet night at home eating homemade mushroom pappardelle, gooey butter cake, and wedding soup while rewatching their ceremony video with their daughter on the couch. She wrote that she cried happy tears through most of it. The night marked 12 months since they married in Santa Barbara on May 31, 2025.
As the Bills prepare for the 2026 season opener in September, Harper Haize Allen will be about five months old, marking a new chapter for the growing Allen family. Allen has not said publicly whether the family plans to attend games at Highmark Stadium this fall, though the Bills’ home crowd will almost certainly know her name before kickoff.
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