8 Totally Weird Celebrity Baby Names and the Fascinating Stories Behind Them — From Apple to Kal-El

Naming a baby is one of the biggest decisions a parent can make, and while many parents choose a name in tribute to a family member, pick a name that’s currently popular, or pay tribute to a pop culture favorite, some go for a more unconventional choice — especially if they happen to be celebrities. Many celebrities have chosen quirky and unique baby names that most non-famous parents wouldn’t pick.  Here are eight of our favorite weird celebrity baby names, along with the stories behind them.

1. Apple

The celebrity parents: Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin

What they said about the name: When Gwyneth Paltrow gave birth to Apple, her daughter with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, she said, “When we were first pregnant, her daddy said, ‘If it’s a girl I think her name should be Apple.’ It sounded so sweet, and it conjured such a lovely picture for me . . . Apples are so sweet and they’re wholesome, and it’s biblical.”

2. Audio Science

The celebrity parents: Shannyn Sossamon and Dallas Clayton

What they said about the name: A Knight’s Tale actress Shannyn Sossamon and her partner, author and illustrator Dallas Clayton, raised quite a few eyebrows when they named their son Audio Science in 2003. Sossamon said, “We wanted a word, not a name, so my boyfriend read through the dictionary three or four times. We were going to call him Science, but thought it might get shortened to Sci, as in Simon.”

3. Blue Ivy

The celebrity parents: Beyoncé and Jay-Z

What they said about the name: With two of the biggest stars in music as her parents, Blue Ivy is destined for greatness, but the story of how Beyoncé and Jay-Z came up with her name is adorably down to earth. Jay-Z revealed that the name arose from seeing their baby-to-be on sonograms. As he described, “We were calling her Blueberry. Like, ‘Look at the little blueberry.’ You know, it was like a nickname. It just was natural.” Once she was born, “We just took the ‘berry’ off of it and called her Blue.” 

4. Cricket

The celebrity parents: Busy Philipps and Marc Silverstein

What they said about the name: Freaks and Geeks actress Busy Philipps has a pretty unusual name herself (though it’s actually a nickname for Elizabeth), and named her daughters Cricket and Birdie. In a 2013 tweet, she joked, “It’s weird people think my kids will be in therapy because of their names. Guys, my kids will be in therapy for LOTS of reasons, I’m sure.”

5. Exton

The celebrity parents: Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey

What they said about the name: Nope, Robert Downey Jr. didn’t name his son after a city in Pennsylvania or a gas company. He revealed that the name Exton was a tribute to his wife’s family, saying, “My wife’s great-uncle Joe was kind of eccentric — when he was in fourth grade, he realized he didn’t have a middle name, so he changed his name to J. Exton.”

6. Kal-El

The celebrity parents: Nicolas Cage and Alice Kim

What they said about the name: Nicolas Cage used his son’s name as an opportunity to pay tribute to his favorite superhero, saying that he originally wanted to name him Kyle but “Then I remembered the old Superman comics and Kal-El was his original name on Krypton. So I wanted a name that stood for something good, was unique, and was American, and that’s all three.”

7. Moon Unit

The celebrity parents: Frank and Gail Zappa

What they said about the name: Frank Zappa, the late avant-garde rock star of the ’60s and ’70s, chose unconventional names for all his kids — Moon Unit was his firstborn, and her siblings were named Dweezil, Ahmet and Diva Muffin. In an interview, Zappa defended his name choices, saying, “They all like their names and the kids at school do too. They don’t make fun of them; in fact, most of them are jealous of their names. You know, it always amazes me when someone who is in my age group, or even younger, asks me a question like why did you name your children that. It’s a reactionary kind of question.”

8. Pilot Inspektor

The celebrity parents: Jason Lee and Beth Riesgraf

What they said about the name: My Name Is Earl star Jason Lee and his wife, Leverage actress Beth Riesgraf, found inspiration for their son’s name in a favorite song from the rock band Grandaddy. Lee recalled that their song “He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s the Pilot,” “absolutely blew my mind when I first heard it,” and said, “It was from this track that my wife, Beth, came up with the name Pilot for our son.”