Have you ever wondered why celebrities give their kids such strange names? It almost seems like a requirement to come up with the weirdest, most uncommon name for their offspring.
As the great William Shakespeare once wrote: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
While Shakespeare didn’t have to live with the name Diva Thin Muffin his whole life, it doesn’t change the fact that celebrities still manage to create the most unimaginable names for their children.
So let’s dish out some of the wackiest and strangest of them all.
1. Moxie Crimefighter and Zoltan
These two celebrity baby names sound like names for a superhero and her evil nemesis, but in truth they are the names of Penn Jillette and his wife Emily’s two kids.
The couple admitted that they chose “Moxie” because it means “hutzpah” which is the Jewish word for spunk. As for her middle name “Crimefighter,” it seems the couple picked it jokingly.
Emily doesn’t even have a middle name. Penn claims he picked the name so that if ever his daughter finds herself in trouble with the law, she can try the excuse that her middle name is Crimefighter.
The couple chose Zoltan because it is Emily’s maiden name. Penn further explained that for both of his kids, he wanted unique names because he always found it sad that kids had regular names that were similar to everyone else’s.
2. X Æ A-12
Elon Musk and his girlfriend singer Grimes gave birth to a beautiful baby boy in April of 2020. Unfortunately, when they announced the good news, the world was extremely confused about what to call him. The billionaire explained on the Joe Rogan experience podcast the letter number sequence and their meanings.
It turns out the “X” stands for the unknown variable, and “Æ” is the Elven spelling of AI (artificial intelligence). As for the “A-12”, it is in reference to the couple’s favourite aircraft that is non violent but very fast. The “A” also refers to Archangel which Grimes tweeted was her favourite song.
Unfortunately, the state of California does not allow symbols or numbers, but only the 26 letters of the alphabet on a baby’s birth certificate. It’s difficult to find a unique pronunciation for such a name. Perhaps the couple will give him a nickname to make it easier.
3. Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson
Uma Thurman and her husband Arpad Busson gifted their baby girl with not one but five unique names Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence. But the couple likes to call her by her nickname Luna.
People figured out that the nickname Luna has something to do with her fourth of the five names “Altalune” which has the Latin meaning that roughly translates to “over the moon” and can be a variation to the Italian word “Alta Luna” meaning “high moon”.
Hence the nickname Luna and also the other names, all have some explanation or meaning and are not as made-up as they sound.
4. Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet and Diva Thin Muffin
Frank Zappa is a legendary musician who is considered to be one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse rock musicians of his era.
He will also be famous for being one of the celebrities who picked the oddest of baby names for his children. Frank and his wife Gail have four children and all of their names are unusual to say the least.
His first child was named Moon Unit and when she was born, Zappa gave his wife the choice between Moon or Motorhead. Gail obviously chose Moon and their daughter’s middle name is a reference to the term “family unit”.
Related: Popular American celebrities that rose from ‘nothing to something’.
Dweezil was a pet name Frank had in his head that popped out of his mouth when his son was born. Ahmet apparently was named after an imaginary butler and their youngest daughter was named Diva because she was such a noisy baby.
5. North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm West
Kim and Kanye West have four children all with very unique names. Starting with their eldest child North. Kim didn’t like it at first and it was Pharrell Williams who shared with her all the different meanings of the word that convinced her to choose North.
Kim’s second pregnancy was so difficult that the couple believed their child was a blessing to be in their lives and Kim credits Kanye for choosing the name Saint.
Kim and Kanye’s third child took them two weeks to finally decide on Chicago. Most people believe this one was chosen because Kanye is from Chicago.
As for the couple’s fourth child, Kim came up with the name and it looks like Kylie vouched for her and that was enough for Kim to go with Psalm.
6. Blue Ivy
Another odd name choice is Beyonce and Jay-Z’s firstborn child Blue Ivy. It may seem like a random choice of names, but their daughter’s name actually has a lot of meaning behind it.
Although it was never confirmed, a few months after Blu was born, Beyonce posted an excerpt from “A Field Guide to Getting Lost” by Rebecca Solnit and the entire excerpt references the colour blue and it’s deeper meaning.
Am pretty sure that it had a little something to do with naming her daughter Blue. As for the name Ivy, there is speculation that the couple chose it because it represents the Roman numeral for the number IV (4).
Turns out the number 4 actually has a lot of meaning for the couple. Both artists are born on the fourth day of the month and even married on April 4th. They both have albums with the number 4. Jay-Z’s is entitled “4:44” and Beyonce’s fourth album is entitled “4”.
7. Kulture Kiari
When Cardi B announced her baby’s name, it had most people wondering what inspired her to name her Kulture Kiari. Turns out Cardi didn’t even pick the name and it was all her husband Offset’s idea.
The rapper whose real name is Kiari Kendrell Cephus, obviously chose his own name for his daughter’s middle name and as for her first name, it seems he has a thing for the word “culture”.
The rapper who is part of the rap group Migos, has two albums entitled “Culture” and “Culture II”. Perhaps he was inspired by his own album names.
To announce her baby’s birth Cardi tweeted her name saying: “anything else would have been basic”.
8. Suri Cruise
When Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes gave birth to their daughter, they shared a statement announcing her name was Suri. It noted that the name Suri was Hebrew for “Princess” and in Persian, it meant “red rose”.
Unfortunately for the couple, the word Suri actually has several meanings in other languages. Sadly, they were not as sweet or as pretty. In a Vanity Fair article a few months after Suri was born, Tom shared he had found the name in a baby book and later found out it meant “red rose” which made them love the name even more. Never once does he discuss the unfortunate other meanings and we understand why.
