Whenever celebrities have their own children, fans often sit up and take notice of which names they’ve chosen.
In recent years, many famous parents have picked rather unconventional names for their offspring, often sparking widespread bemusement and theories about why they’ve chosen said name.
Choosing a name for a child can be a big deal for those who want their kids to stand out from the crowd with original and individually distinct names. Celebrities are no different – no matter how, ahem, questionable their choices might be.
These unorthodox names have previously made headlines when announced. Most recently, Grimes and Elon Musk caused a flurry after revealing the names of their two children, with the singer announcing last week that, despite shortening her daughter’s name, it still wasn’t recognised by the government.
From Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, to Nick Cannon and his multiple parenting partners, we’re taking a look at 10 of the most unique celebrity children’s names...
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin: Apple
While they were far from the first celebrity couple to give their child an unusual name, Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin certainly kickstarted the trend when they announced their daughter’s name to the world.
Apple Blythe Alison Martin was born in May 2004, when Paltrow and Martin were still married. The couple’s marriage lasted from 2003 to 2016.
Last year, Paltrow explained how her daughter came to be named after a red fruit.
Answering a fan question via People, she said: “Her dad came up with the name and I fell in love with it. I thought it was original and cool. I can’t imagine her being called anything else!”
Grimes and Elon Musk: X Æ A-Xii and Exa Dark Sideræl Musk
Grimes gave birth to her and Tesla billionaire Elon Musk’s son in 2020. The couple baffled everybody when they announced his name was X Æ A-Xii.
The 32-year-old singer explained that the first “X” is a mathematical reference, while “Æ” is the Elven spelling of AI (artificial intelligence), while “A-Xii” is a precursor to the aircraft SR-17, which is the former couple’s favourite.
They call the two-year-old X for short.
If that wasn’t confusing enough, they named their daughter, who was born via surrogate in 2022, Exa Dark Sideræl Musk. However, they now call her Y (pronounced “why”) for short.
Grimes tweeted: “She’s Y now, or ‘Why?’ or just ‘?’ (But the government won’t recognise that),” the scuriosity, the eternal question, .. and such.”
Nick Cannon and Abby De La Rosa: Zillion and Zion, and Beautiful Zeppelin
Nick Cannon has become known for his many, many children – welcoming his 12th in December – all of whom have unusual names.
But his three children with model Abby De La Rosa are perhaps the most unique of his entire brood. In an interview with The Shade Room, Cannon explained how each of his children were named and said that Abby wanted to name her children with Z names.
“So Zion, Zillion, and then we were going to go Zeppelin for our daughter, because it was going to be all three,” Cannon said. “But I was like, ‘She’s so beautiful, that’s her name’. Beautiful Zeppelin. We call her Bizzy.”
His other children are named Morroccan and Monroe (with Mariah Carey); Golden, Powerful Queen and Rise (with Brittany Bell); Legendary Love (with Bre Tiesi); Onyx (with Lanisha Cole); Zen and Halo (with Alyssa Scott).
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West: North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm
Kim Kardashian and ex-husband Kanye West have four children together, all of whom have names that aren’t the most popular.
In 2019, the reality star explained why her children’s names suit them. “When North was born, I know that North West is a very unique name,” she told The Tonight Show, adding that it was the “right” name for her first child because “you can’t go higher than North”.
“My son Saint, he is a saint. It’s like he literally has become his name. He is an angel,” she continued. “Psalm, maybe he’ll be singing some psalms. I don’t know what he’ll do.”
Kardashian added that for Chicago, who she nicknamed “Chi”, they were inspired by West’s hometown.
“Kanye is originally from Chicago, and the city is really connected to his memory of his mom. So, we went with Chicago.”
Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury: Bambi Fury
Love Island stars Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury welcomed their first child together in January.
Bambi is the name of the baby deer in the 1942 animated film based on a book written by Austrian author Felix Salten. It follows Bambi’s journey to adulthood as he takes his place as the prince of the forest, after his mother is shot by a human.
Hague initially caveated the name, saying that she was aware people were going to “love or hate” it. She added: “I’ve had the name picked out since I was a baby girl myself. It’s always been a dream baby girl name and luckily when I met Tommy and I told him the name I’ve always dreamt of using, he absolutely loved it too.”
Tom and Giovanna Fletcher: Buzz Michelangelo Fletcher
McFly frontman Tom Fletcher and his wife Giovanna named their first son Buzz in 2014.
At the time of the baby’s birth, the singer tweeted: ”For those asking, our son‘s name is Buzz Michelangelo Fletcher,” adding: “...and yes I’m being completely serious, my son is called Buzz :D”.
The pair went on to have a second child named Buddy, seven, and a third son called Max, four.
Jamie and Juliette Oliver: River Rocket Blue Dallas
The celebrity chef and his wife share five children between the ages of six and 21. Their names are Poppy Honey Rosie, Daisy Boo Pamela, Petal Blossom Rainbow, Buddy Bear Maurice.
Their youngest child, River Rocket Blue Dallas, was born in 2016 and is six years old.
Geri Halliwell and Christian Horner: Bluebell Madonna
Former Spice Girl Halliwell and her husband Christian Horner share two children, Bluebell Madonna, 16, and Montague George Hector Horner, six.
After Bluebell’s birth, Halliwell explained that her daughter’s name came about after noticing bluebell flowers everywhere as she came to the end of her pregnancy.
Halliwell’s grandmother had also been part of a dance group called The Bluebell Girls, which was another inspiration behind the name.
Lucky Blue Smith and Stormi Bree: Gravity Blue Smith
The pair of models named their daughter Gravity in 2017, who is now five years old.
The couple later split and Lucky married model Nara Pellman in 2020.
Cheryl and Liam Payne: Bear Gray Payne
The former Girls Aloud singer and One Director star welcomed their first and only child together in 2017.
At the time, both had said they wanted a “unique” name “you won’t forget”, which was the inspiration behind the moniker.
