The most common version of this tale (from the Edo Period), tells Momotarō came to earth inside a giant peach. The peach was found floating down a river by an old woman without children who was washing clothes there. The woman and her husband found the child when they tried to open the peach to eat it. The child explained that he had been sent by Heaven to be their son. The couple called him Momotarō, from "momo" (peach) and "tarō" (oldest son in the family).