Whenever we find out that a celebrity has given birth or welcomed a new member of the family through adoption or surrogacy, it's almost always happy news. Usually the next two big questions are, "Will they share a photo of the baby?" and, "Ooh, what name did they choose?" And while we are still waiting on some photos to be revealed (c'mon, Meghan and Harry, please let us see baby Lillibet!), we do know enough celebrity baby names for 2021 to officially declare that there are some very, um, interesting choices out there!
We know that choosing the perfect name for a baby isn't a decision that most parents take lightly, and that names can be chosen for lots of reasons: honoring a loved one, reflecting a parent's ideals or values, or just for the sound or meaning behind it. And it would obviously be super boring if everyone chose the same classic names (no offense to the Henrys, Elizabeths, and Michaels of the world), but that doesn't mean that we still don't occasionally wonder what some celebrity parents were thinking with the more unusual choices they made.
It should also be said that one person's crazy is another person's delightful, so determining the craziest celebrity baby names in any given year is always subjective and just meant to be good fun. No name shaming here!
Illusia
Criss Angel has been wowing people with his magic tricks and illusions for years, which is really cool. Naming his third child, and first daughter, Illusia Angelina, seems a little too on the nose for a magician's daughter. Do most kids want to be named after their dad's job?
Honey
Food-based names are always kind of tricky to pull off โ remember the side-eyes that Gwyneth got for naming her daughter Apple? Duck Dynasty star turned motivational speaker Sadie Robertson Huff's choice of the sticky-sweet moniker Honey for her first child has that same kind of energy.
Madyson
Okay, the name Madyson isn't a crazy one on its own. But when Anna and Josh Duggar chose it for their seventh child, it sure seems like an odd choice, given that Josh (now convicted on child pornography charges) allegedly used an account on the notorious Ashley Madison website to arrange for extramarital affairs.
Jupiter
It seems safe to say that Ashley Tisdale and her husband, Christopher French, were looking for a baby name that is out of this world. Jupiter Iris French was born in March 2021 and is hopefully not a gas giant like the planet she was named after.
Pfeiffer Lucia
Scott Speedman (also known as the very handsome reason Felicity chose NYU on the classic show Felicity) and his real-life partner, Lindsay Rae Hofmann, welcomed baby Pfeiffer in October. Naming a daughter Pfeiffer seems like a good way to set her up for a life of saying, "No, not Piper."
Prairie Moon
Australian actress Teresa Palmer, currently starring in the adaptation of A Discovery of Witches, welcomed her fourth child this year, a daughter named Prairie Moon. Teresa clearly likes a more quirky baby name, as this little one joins siblings Poet Lake, Forest Sage, and Bohdi Rain.
Cosmo
Scarlett Johansson and husband Colin Jost haven't shared any photos of their summer baby, but they did share that the little dude is named Cosmo, which is certainly a choice. (Even Colin's own mother asked, "Is it final? Like, did you submit the birth certificate?") Interestingly, Scarlett went super traditional for her first child, a daughter named Rose.
Sire
Baby names are both a matter of sound and meaning, which makes the name choice made by singer Usher and his partner Jennifer kind of an odd one. They named their son, born in September, Sire, a name that means "male parent of an animal" and usually refers to bulls, not people.
Eureka Muse
Author and podcast host Amanda Knox is perhaps better known for being accused and then exonerated for a murder in Italy when she was just a college student. This year, she became a mother to the very distinctively named Eureka Muse Knox-Robinson. That is a whole lot of name!
La'akea Makalapuaokalanipล
We don't want to say that the name chosen by retired MMA fighter Ronda Rousey and her husband, Travis Browne, is crazy, given that it is meant to reflect his Hawaiian ancestry. We will say, however, that it is likely the longest and perhaps most challenging to spell of the celebrity names we saw this year.
Oonagh
Actress Amber Heard announced her baby joy this year and revealed that she'd been hoping to become a mother for several years. She chose the name Oonagh for her daughter, a name which appears to be an ultra-rare spelling variation of the uncommon Oona. Hopefully the sweet baby doesn't mind a lifetime of having to spell that name out.
Arrow
Reality TV alums Nicole Franzel-Arroyo and Victor Arroyo took a break from being on shows like The Amazing Race and Big Brother to become parents to a little boy named Arrow. No word yet on whether the excited parents plan to sign him up for archery classes!
Lillibet
We love Meghan and Harry and totally understand why they'd want to choose a name that reflects their royal family history. That said, choosing Queen Elizabeth's nickname of Lillibet was an unexpected and uncommon choice that ruffled some royal watcher's feathers. But let's be honest, everything Meghan does ruffles some royal feathers, because she just can't catch a break from the British press or public.
Zillion Heir
Nick Cannon had a busy parenting year in 2021, welcoming three new kids to his family. With Abby De La Rosa, he welcomed his fifth and sixth babies overall. One of the twins is aspirationally named Zillion Heir, though he appears to go by "Zilly" for short.
Zion Mixolydian
We can't call out one of Nick Cannon and Abby De La Rosa's crazy twin names and not the other. While Zion is uncommon, it doesn't quite rise to the level of crazy. The middle name of Mixolydian sure does, though. The name comes from a kind of Greek musical scale.
