In Hollywood there seems to be a strange unspoken competition between celebrities to outdo each other in the bizarre baby name department. And we may have just seen the biggest game changer yet, with Elon Musk and Grimes possibly naming their first child “X Æ A-12”. Good luck trying to pronounce it!
The 48-year-old tech billionaire and the 32-year-old musician, who have been dating since 2018, announced on Twitter that they welcomed their new son on Monday (May 4).
But with celebrity baby names like North, Apple, Blue Ivy and Kulture Kiari Cephu, we had to wonder, what are the meanings behind these monikers? Let’s take a closer look at some of the more unusual baby names that have been bestowed on celebrity offspring, starting with – you guessed it – X Æ A-12.
While Elon’s known to be quite the jokester on Twitter (check out this photo he posted of his newborn son), we can perhaps put our trust in this one after seeing Grimes’ explanation of the name here:
•X, the unknown variable
•Æ, my elven spelling of Ai (love &/or Artificial intelligence)
•A-12 = precursor to SR-17 (our favorite aircraft). No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent
+ (A=Archangel, my favorite song)
How it’s pronounced, though, still remains a mystery.
Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky named their third daughter India Rose Hemsworth after the country they both love. Though it initially came from Elsa’s memorable time in India, Chris himself has also spent his days in India shooting for Extraction, a Netflix original film now available for streaming. In an interview with IANS, he described filming in India as an “intimidating but exciting experience” where he felt like a “rock star”.
The couple, who have been married for 10 years, also have two other children named Sasha and Tristan.
Cardi B and partner Offset named their daughter Kulture Kiari Cephus. While her middle and last names are directly taken from Offset’s birth name, Kiari Kendrell Cephus, fans suspect her first name is inspired by the Migos albums Culture and Culture II.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West christened their bub North West and momager (“mom manager”) Kris Jenner revealed why:
“The way [Kim] explained it to me was that North means highest power and she says that North is their highest point together. I thought that was very sweet.”
And North isn’t the only one. Kim and Kanye’s son was named Saint as Kanye “wanted a name with spiritual significance,” and youngest daughter Chicago (nickname Chi, pronounced ‘Shy’) is named after the city her father grew up in.
Their fourth child, a son, was named Psalm which means “song” in Hebrew.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban named their daughter Sunday Rose, because Sunday was their least favourite day of the week until they met each other. Aww!
Khloe Kardashian kept it in the family when she named her bub True, whom she shares with partner Tristan Thompson. Matriarch Kris Jenner offered a bit more insight on the origin of the name via Instagram: “FUN FACT… my Grandfather’s name on my Dad’s side was True Otis Houghton,” she wrote. “My real Dad’s name was Robert True Houghton…so [I] am so excited Khloe named her daughter True!!!”
Beyonce and Jay-Z named their daughter Blue Ivy Carter after a passage from Beyonce’s favourite book, A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit. As for their twins, Jay-Z revealed daughter Rumi was named for their “favourite poet,” the 13th-century Persian lyricist, while their son Sir “carries himself like that. He just came out, like, Sir.”
Kate Winslet named her child Bear Blaze after the house fire that took place on Richard Branson’s private Caribbean island, Necker, in 2011 where she and her husband, Ned, met. Ned’s last name is Rocknroll, which makes her child’s full name Bear Blaze Rocknroll.
Gwyneth Paltrow revealed back in a 2004 Oprah Show interview that it was her then-husband Chris Martin’s idea to name their daughter Apple. She agreed because apples are “sweet, wholesome, clean and biblical”.
Drew Barrymore and ex-husband Will Kopelman named their baby daughter Olive because when they discovered Drew was pregnant, that’s what size the baby was.