The Strange But True Stories Behind The Most Unique Celebrity Baby Names
It seems like celebrities these days can't pick normal names for their children. Whatever happened to classic names like Susan or George? Do all celebrity babies have to be named Pomegranate Lexius now, or Memphis Blueshoe?
Believe it or not, celebrities pick those crazy names for a reason. They don't just open a dictionary to a random page and name their child the first word they see. Read on to find out how Beyoncé picked her twins' names, and which celeb named his daughter Moxie CrimeFighter.
Lincoln And Delta Bell Shepard
Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell thought they were having a boy when Bell was pregnant with their first child. When they found out she was carrying a girl, they stuck with 'Lincoln,' a more masculine name that they both liked.
As for their second daughter, Shepard told Ellen DeGeneres, "So, a friend of mine teasingly texted me: 'Oh, great! What's this one gonna be? Navy Seal? Delta Force? Green Beret?' I was reading this text out loud to Kristen. And I said, 'Oh, Louis Steve said what if we named her Delta? Delta! Delta Bell Shepard! That's it!' And that's it!"
Bronx Mowgli Wentz and Jagger Snow Ross
Fallout Boy bassist Peter Wentz and his ex-wife Ashlee Simpson named their son Bronx Mowgli after a character in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. He and Ashley bonded over that story while they were dating.
Simpson then married Evan Ross, and together they had a daughter named Jagger Snow. Fans assume she's named after Mick Jagger since her parents are both artists.
Sunday Rose Kidman Urban
Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman named their daughter Sunday Rose after Sunday Reed, the muse of Australian artist Sydney Nolan.
Nicole Kidman's father told The Daily Telegraph, "There was a lady named Sunday Reed who was a prominent patron of the arts in Victoria. I have read a bit about Sunday Reed and her husband John -- she was a key mover and shaker in the arts around the beginning of the century. The name Sunday struck me as being a nice name for a woman, so my wife and I mentioned it."
Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale
When Gwen Stefani was asked about her son's unusual name, she mentioned Zuma Beach, California, a location “really close to where we live.”
When she was asked if Zuma was conceived at Zuma Beach, Stefani laughed and said, “Yeah, we’re doing it on the public beach, dude. The paparazzi!” Read on to see how Brad and Angelina picked their kids' original names.
Jaden And Willow Smith
Apparently some people haven't clued into this yet, but obviously, Jaden's name is a masculine version of his mother's name, Jada, and Willow's name is a feminine version of her father's name, WIll.
How would you feel about having a name similar to your parent's name?
Moroccan And Monroe Cannon
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon named their daughter "Monroe" after the one and only Marilyn Monroe. Monroe doesn't have a middle name because Mariah doesn't have one either.
Moroccan is named after the Moroccan room in Mariah's penthouse. It's Mariah's favorite room in the house and the place where Nick got down on one knee.
Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt
"Shiloh" is a Hebrew name that means "messiah" or "peaceful one." Shiloh's middle name, Nouvel, is French for new, so her full name translates to "new messiah."
Is that a lot of pressure to put on a child? Probably. Like being the spawn of the two most famous people in Hollywood wasn't pressure enough. Read on for a little girl who is carrying on a name tradition.
Harlow And Sparrow Madden
Nicole Ritchie explained that she picked the name Harlow for her first daughter because "I wanted a hippy name but Joel wanted something biblical. Harlow's a cool name because it feels like a classic name at the same time,"
After her son was born, Ritchie told People magazine, "I didn't realize both our babies names ended in 'ow'. Joel and I have different taste, but we both agreed that we liked Sparrow from Captain Jack Sparrow."
Moxie CrimeFighter and Zolten Jillette
Penn Jillette's wife's last name is Zolten, so that explains his son's name. Penn told People, "I love the name Moxie, I love that's it's a purely American word, and those are rare, and I love that it stands for old fashioned spunk and energy."
As for CrimeFighter, that was his wife's idea. His wife doesn't have a middle name, and she thinks middle names are stupid. So his daughter's middle name is more of a joke than anything else.
James Reynolds
When Blake Lively found out she was pregnant with a baby girl, she decided to pass on traditional names and opt for a boys' name instead.
James is named after Ryan Reynold's father, James Reynolds. He died the year baby James was born after living with Parkinson's since 1995. Keep reading to find out how Chris Martin's kid got her fruity name.
Robinson True Ponder
ESPN star Sam Ponder, and her husband, quarterback Christian Ponder, named their son after Spurs legend David Robinson.
Sam shared a photo on the day her son was born with the caption, "He goes by True. He was named after Jackie and David (Robinson)... two men of courage who weren't/aren't afraid to hold to their convictions and take the road less traveled."
Harper Seven Beckham
Harper Beckham is named after the author of her mother's favorite book, To Kill A Mockingbird. Leave it to Posh Spice to name her kid after Harper Lee.
Beckham explained her unusual middle name, "and then Seven you know, a lot of people have assumed its just because of my shirt number that I wore for many years and part of it is because I had so much luck around wearing that number, wearing it for England, wearing it for Manchester United."
Apple Blythe Alison Martin
Here's a name that always raises eyebrows. Apparently, Chris Martin’s booking agent, Marty Diamond, has a daughter named Apple, and Chris and Gwyneth asked his permission to give their child the same first name if they had a girl.
The couple paid homage to their own mothers with Apple's middle names, Blythe and Alison. Keep reading to learn why Beyoncé and Jay-Z picked such unusual names for their twins.
Revel James Makai Morrison
Glee star Matthew Morrison told People magazine, “We wanted to revel in our child and we were like, Revel, that is just so cool and we will call him Rev for short,”
Morison also said that he and his wife, Renee Puente decided that if they had a girl, they would choose an "M" name, and if they had a boy, the would choose an "R" name.
Rihanna And A$AP Rocky Kept The "R" Names In The Family
In 2023, stars Rihanna and A$AP Rocky welcomed a healthy baby boy into their family with the name Riot Rose Mayers. While the couple didn't say why they selected the unique name, it is safe to say they wanted their entire family to have names starting with "R," including their oldest son, RZA.
Another theory was they decided to name their son after A$AP Rocky's Pharrell-produced track “Riot."
Kal-El Coppola Cage
Nicolas Cage explained that he and his wife, Alice named their son "Kal-El" after Superman:
"My wife wanted a unique name and originally I thought of the name Kyle and then she said, ‘No, something more unusual but beautiful.’ Then I remembered the old Superman comics and Kal-El was his original name on Krypton. So I wanted a name that stood for something good, was unique and American and that’s all three. I just thought it was a beautiful name and it had kind of a magical ring to it."
Sir And Rumi Carter
The world stopped and stared the day Queen B posted this picture of her newborn twins. Jay-Z explained that his daughter, Rumi, was named after his favorite poet.
“Sir was like, man, come out the gate,” Jay-Z said on Rap Radar. “He carries himself like that. He just came out, like, Sir.”
North, Saint, And Chicago West
Apparently, Pharrell suggested the name "North" because he thought it sounded cool. Kim initially didn't like the name, but then Anna Wintour told her she liked it and Kim was hooked.
Saint was given his name because Kim had such a difficult pregnancy the second time around. When he was finally born, it was like a blessing. Chicago's name is a tribute to Kanye's hometown. Kanye was raised in Chicago and often references the city in his music.
True Thompson
The newest Kardashian baby has a unique name in true Kardashian form. However, "True" is actually a family name.
Khloe's mother, Kris, tweeted, "FUN FACT... my Grandfather's name on my Dad's side was True Otis Houghton....my Dad's name was Robert True Houghton...so I am so excited Khloe named her daughter True!!!"
Rocket Ayer Williams
Pharrell and his wife, Helen, wanted to give their son an inspirational name that paid tribute to their musical idols.
The name "Rocket" implies a high flying projectile, someone who will achieve great heights. It's also part of a bunch of song titles by artists Pharrell admires. Pharrell explained, "Stevie Wonder's 'Rocket Love', Elton John's 'Rocket Man' and Herbie Hancock's 'Rocket'. All of my favorite musicians. And his middle name is not 'Man'. It's Ayer after Roy Ayers."
Winnie Fallon
We love Jimmy Fallon's daughter's adorable name. Jimmy and his wife chose "Winnie" because of the name of a lake in New Hampshire.
Jimmy explained, “we were talking about different names. You over-think names — you don’t want a name that’s been done, but then you don’t want something so weird people are like, ‘What?!’ Winnipesaukee’s a little long, Also she’s a ‘win’ for us.”
