Alicia Soto, Editorial Board
When Jay-z and Beyoncé’s baby girl arrived, some were shocked that Blue Ivy was her name. The couple named her after their favorite number, four; which translates to roman numerals as IV, hence the name Ivy. However, these celebs are not the only creative parents to give their child an unusual name.
What follows are just some of Hollywood’s most unusual baby names throughout the years.
The star of National Treasure, Nicolas Cage named his son Kal-El Capolla after the comic book character, Superman.
Famous magician Penn Jillette named his daughter Moxie CrimeFighter. The reason being, he believes it’s cruel to give a child a name that someone already has. Moxie stands for old-fashion spunk and energy, which satisfied Penn and his wife.
Gwyneth Paltrow, the star of Country Strong, and husband Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, named their daughter Apple. The couple’s inspiration came from Chris’s North American booking agent who had a daughter named Apple.
Independent film actor and director Rob Morrow named his daughter Tu Morrow. The name is pronounced too.
Funny man Jason Lee, the lead star of the television comedy My name is Earl, named his son Pilot Inspektor. The name was inspired by a song from the indie-rock band Grandaddy titled, “He’s simple, He’s dumb, He’s the Pilot.”
Before his death, Frank Zappa, composer and guitarist, named his children, Moon Unit, Thin Muffin, Dweezil and Ahmet. The reasons for naming Moon Unit, Thin Muffin and Ahmet are unknown. However, Dweezil was named after an odd, curled toe he had at birth. Unfortunately, the hospital he was born in would not register him on certificate under the name Dweezil, so Frank put down various names of former band mates on his birth certificate.
Actress and former Friends star Courtney Cox and her ex-husband, actor David Arquette, named their daughter Coco. Their reason did not originate from the famous fragrance designer Coco Chanel, the name is an abbreviation of Co-urtney Co-x.
The lead star of Rambo and RockySylvestor Stallone has five children—one named Sage Moonblood, and Seargeoh (pronounced seer-gee-oh not sergio). Sage is the only sibling with two first names. Stallone liked the repetition of the letter “S” in his name so decided to give all five of his kids S-names. His sons’ names on the other hand are unexplained.
Musician Bono, lead singer of the band U2, has two daughters, one of which is Memphis Eve; and two sons, one of which Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q.
Jermaine Jackson has four sons, two of which named Jaafar and Jermasty. Jermaine says he really likes the letter “J” and it represents his family’s name Jackson.
Actor Forest Whitaker from the 1982 comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High and wife Keisha Nash have four children. One of these four is a girl named Sonnet and another named True, as well as a son from Forrest’s previous marriage named Ocean.
It is really no surprise when celebrities give their kids strange names; they do it all the time. It will be interesting to see as they grow which kids keep their name and which celebs will regret it like a bad tattoo.