Some countries have placed a ban on certain names that parents can call their children in an attempt to stop them from giving their children “odd” names. It’s not uncommon in other countries to find children with strange names, especially celebrity kids.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin made headlines after they decided to name their daughter Apple and Courtney Cox and David Arquette named their daughter Coco, and these aren't even the worst ones.
It's important to keep in mind that strange names in the celebrity world aren’t a new thing though.
If you look back at the Phoenix family with brothers River and Joaquin, and sisters Rain, Summer, Jodean and Liberty, you’ll see that some families embrace oddity. Some are even odder than others, like Frank Zappa’s children Moon Unit, Dweezil, Diva and Ahmet.
Unless strange names are banned everywhere, it's likely we'll keep seeing names that most people would just shake their heads at. Who’s to say what makes one name weirder than another anyway? From strange spellings to numerous first and middle names, it doesn’t take much for a child’s name to get out of hand. Here are the most recent celebrity baby names that made the top 10 weirdest name list.
19 Rocket Ayer
Pharrell Williams may be ‘Happy,’ but his toddler son, Rocket Ayer, may not be so full of smiles when children start making fun of him for his strange name. You might wonder where did they come up with the name.
It seems all of Williams’ favorite musicians have done songs about rockets, so it must have seemed fitting for him to name his child Rocket. His middle name, Ayer, is after composer Roy Ayer.
Pharrell himself comes from a family of strange names, his father, Pharoah, being only one of them. Pharrell has two younger brothers with just as interesting and odd names, Cato and Psolomon. Maybe strange names just run in the family, or it’s in the genes.
18 Aurelius
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Supermodel Elle Macpherson named her son after a group of elite Roman families, the Aurelii. His full name is Aurelius Cy Andrea Busson. Her first child, born in 1998, was named Arpad Flynn Alexander Busson. Maybe weird names is an Australian thing.
16 Bluebell Madonna
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Remember the Spice Girls? They were a popular girl popstar group, and the answer to boy bands in the music industry, in the late 90's. Back then they were famous for skimpy clothes and catchy tunes. Now they spend their days playing mom.
One former Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell, aka Ginger Spice, paid homage to a love of music and beauty, naming her daughter Bluebell Madonna.
14 Bronx Mowgli
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Bronx Mowgli may be one of the strangest on this list. It’s the name given by Ashlee Simpson and her ex-husband Pete Wentz to their son. Apparently, The Jungle Book was something the couple bonded over and they felt the need to torture their child with a middle name from the books main character. Apparently they missed the colonial overtones of the book when they were bonding and subsequently named their child Bronx Mowgli.
Ashlee’s sister Jessica has a fetish for strange names too, it seems, although not as strange as Bronx Mowgli. Jessica has a daughter named Maxwell Drew and a son named Ace Knute.
12 Saint Lazslo
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Saint Lazslo is actually the half-brother of Bronx Mowgli. He is the son of Pete Wentz and Meagan Camper. The saint part of his name apparently comes from the fact that he was gracious enough to wait for his father to return from tour before being born. Exactly where Lazslo comes from is anyone’s guess. We’ll chalk it up to creativity.
10 Blue Ivy
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Anytime a celeb names their child something odd we rush to speculate on where the name comes from. When pop stars Beyonce and Jay Z announced the name of their daughter, Blue Ivy, people did just that. To dispel the rumors, it was pointed out that both singers have a love of the color blue. More interestingly, it is believed that her middle name stands for the Roman numeral IV, which is four. This number is significant for both stars’ birthdays and their anniversary date.
8 Pilot Inspektor
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Actor Jason Lee had a son with Beth Riesgraf and they named him Pilot Inspektor, influenced by an indie band song. With his current wife, Ceren Alkaç, Lee has two more children, with strange names (although not as bad as Pilot), Casper (a daughter) and Sonny (a son, of course).
Jason Lee should be given worst father of the year award each time he has a new child. He also should have a personal editor to ensure he uses proper spelling!
6 Apollo Bowie Flynn
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Apollo is the newest of the three children born between rockers Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale. He isn’t the only one with too many names either. He has two older brothers, Kingston James McGregor
and Zuma Nesta Rock. OK, even if the whole three name thing wasn’t crazy enough, what is a Zuma Nesta Rock? It’s a good thing they have hot, rich parents.
4 Cricket
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The bubbly blond Cougar Town alum, Busy Philips, is definitely an animal lover. She and her husband Marc Silverstein have two girls together. She named her first child Birdie Leigh. Five years later, Birdie’s little sister, Cricket Pearl arrived. At least these seem like names less likely to be ridiculed throughout the school years.
2 North West
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Leave it to tabloid celebs Kim Kardashian and Kanye West to make the world think they are kidding about their potential baby name, only to actually use that name. They announced the thought on The Tonight Show, and when little North West was born Kimye was sure to hype up the name. Oh, and in case you didn’t know, North is a little girl.
Hopefully future parents will learn a lesson looking at all of the weird celebrity kid’s names that are out there, and that are sure to come. Think about what that child is going to have to go through when they start school- kids can be cruel.
- Yvonne Stegall