Crazy Celebrity Baby Names

Back in 2019, rappers Cardi B and Offset welcomed their daughter, Kulture Kiari Cephus. Then last year their son Wave Set Cephus joined the family. Cardi B revealed that it was Offset who was the one who came up with their son’s clever name. "When Set suggested Wave, I was sold! THAT HAD TO BE HIS NAME!" she shared in an Instagram post.

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With astronomic and lyrical roots, Lyra is a fitting name for the daughter of a musician. Ed Sheeran and his wife, Cherry Seaborn, named their daughter Lyra Antarctica to reflect their love of music and their love for the breathtaking continent, Antarctica. "I realize some people think it's quite a strange name," Sheeran shared with People magazine. "But my wife's called Cherry, and she is the only Cherry that I've ever met and I think that she's the only Cherry that she's ever met and I quite like that."

The two desired a unique name so that their daughter could always stand out. "We just wanted to give her a name that was unique, so that she would be the only one."

Elon Musk has never been concerned about making news headlines whether it be for ground-breaking technology or for taking over social media platforms. So when it came to his children, their names had to make headlines as well. Grimes and Musk named their children X Æ A-Xii, who goes by “X” and Exa Dark Sideræl, whom they call “Y.”

Rhianna and A$AP Rocky named their firstborn child RZA after the infamous RZA from WuTang Clan. Rhianna is a huge fan of WuTang, and it came as no surprise that her firstborn’s name would be anything different.

Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost’s son, Cosmo Jost, capture the playfulness of the couple. The actress shared in interviews how the name came to be through the luck of choosing randomly from a group of letters. "It just seemed like a refreshing — I just thought it was so charming,” the Black Widow actress expressed to Harper’s Bazaar.

Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z made waves when they named their first born Blue Ivy. A few years later, the iconic couple had twins, Suri and Sir. While Suri is named after poet Rumi, Sir had other origins. "Sir was like, man, come out the gate. He carries himself like that. He just came out, like Sir," father, Jay-Z told ABC News.

It’s long been known that Nicolas Cage has “a warm spot" in his heart for comic books. He even took his stage name — he’s a Coppola, you’ll recall — from Marvel superhero Luke Cage. So it’s not a shocker that he’d look to a similar source when naming his son. “My wife wanted a unique name and originally I thought of the name Kyleand. Then she said, ‘No, something more unusual but beautiful,’” he told People in 2006. “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.”

Jason Lee’s son’s name is far from the norm, Pilot Inspektor. The actor explained how the name was inspired by Grandaddy’s 2000 disc, The Sophtware Slump. “The opening track, ‘He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s the Pilot’ absolutely blew my mind when I first heard it,” Lee shared with US Weekly around the time that his son was born.

When Alicia Silverstone's son was born in 2011, she received flack for his quirky moniker, Bear Blu. When in doubt, blame the mother-in-law. “She suggested Bear or Blu,” the actress told Us magazine about the baby boy, whose father is rocker Christopher Jarecki. “I loved them both.”

Gwen Stefani and ex-husband Gavin Rossdale brought a touch of Jamaica to their son Kingston’s name, so it’s no surprise that they wanted a similarly singular flavor to naming their second-born. Zuma was reportedly named after the beach where Rossdale had a major career epiphany, but his middle name comes from the couple’s adoration of Bob Marley — it was Marley’s first name, which he changed when he immigrated from Jamaica. And the "Rock"? Well, that should be pretty self-explanatory.

Fashion Star diva Nicole Richie and her rocker husband Joel Madden got big-time props for giving their firstborn a funky, throwback Hollywood name: Harlow. But they got some flack for naming her baby brother Sparrow. Critics said it was too feminine. “I liked the way it sounded with Harlow,” Richie explained to People shortly after the baby was born in 2009.

Gwyneth Paltrow, the one to begin the recent trend of uncommon baby names, just couldn’t quite grasp the backlash against her firstborn’s name, Apple. “When we were first pregnant, her daddy said, ‘If it’s a girl, I think her name should be Apple.’ And it just sounded so sweet, and it just conjures up such a lovely picture for me, you know apples are so sweet and they’re wholesome, and it’s biblical,” she told Oprah back in 2004.

While some names that celebrities give their children might seem outlandish and maybe even bizarre, perhaps it’s just the new standard. After all, child naming is usually a meaningful and intentional practice.

As celebrities continue to break the mold by naming their children monikers like Kulture and Exa Dark Sideræl, they are simultaneously creating a space for others to be bold. Celebrity-inspired baby names create trends annually, so get ready for new standards when it comes to typical names.