Exa Dark Sideræl and other unique celebrity baby names
Forget 2021's most popular baby names – Muhammed and Olivia – because celebrities have been known to dance to their own beat when it comes to naming their offspring.
Just ask Grimes and Elon Musk. The singer, 33, whose real name is Claire Elise Boucher, shared the news that she and the Tesla founder quietly welcomed a daughter via a surrogate in December in a new cover story for Vanity Fair.
And once again the on-off couple have opted for yet another unique baby name. The pair, who also have a son X Æ A-12 (aka X), have decided to call their daughter Exa Dark Sideræl, or Y for short.
Pre-empting the potential confusion among fans, Grimes explained how to pronounce the “fire” moniker in her interview with the publication.
Turns out that while 'Exa' and 'Dark' are phonetically pronounced as expected, Grimes clarified that Sideræl is pronounced “sigh-deer-ee-el.”
Exa is a random reference to the supercomputing term exaFLOPS (the ability of a computer to perform one quintillion floating-point operations per second – nope, we'd never heard of it either), while Dark, according to Grimes, represents “the unknown.”
Grimes and Musk are by no means alone in joining the unusually named offspring club.
Leading the unique baby name trend has to be Gwyneth Paltrow and Christ Martin who raised many an eyebrow when they opted to name their children Apple and Moses back in 2004 and 2006 respectively.
Since then, however, eccentric monikers have become pretty par for the course for celebs, thanks partly to the Kardashian Jenner clan who have nearly all opted to think outside the box when it comes to naming their babies.
Watch: Elon Musk and Grimes secretly welcome another baby
Most recently Kylie Jenner has given birth to her second child, a boy with the quirky-sounding moniker Wolf Webster.
Little Wolf joins big sister Stormi, Chicago, North, Saint and the various other members of the unique Kardashian/Jenner clan.
From Raddix to Rumi, and Bingham to Bear, here's our run-down of the wackiest celebrity baby names we've heard.
Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran
Child of: Ed Sheeran and Cherry Seaborn
In late August 2020, music star Ed Sheeran and wife Cherry Seaborn welcomed their first child. Her name? Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran. Fans speculated that her first name was inspired by one of the singer-songwriter's favourite books — Philip Pullman's fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials — which features a main character named Lyra.
Cosmo
Child of: Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost
Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost went other worldly when choosing a name for their son who they decided to call Cosmo.
The couple revealed last August that they'd welcomed their first child together, a little boy, with Jost sharing the happy news of the new arrival on Instagram.
"Ok ok we had a baby. His name is Cosmo. We love him very much."
Johansson, 36, is already mother to a daughter, Rose Dorothy, seven, with French journalist ex-husband Romain Dauriac, so naming her second child Cosmo is something of a departure from her daughter's much more traditional moniker.
Read more: Have Ed Sheeran and Cherry Seaborn jumped on pop culture baby name trend?
Raddix Chloe Wildflower Madden
Child of: Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden
In January 2020, Cameron Diaz announced that she and husband Benji Madden had welcomed their first child, a daughter, in late 2019. Their little girl's name? A lengthy Raddix Chloe Wildflower Madden.
Blue Ivy, Rumi and Sir Carter
Children of: Jay Z and Beyonce
Having already got a unique baby name badge for their daughter Blue Ivy, back in 2017 Beyonce and Jay Z confirmed their twins would also be given unique-sounding monikers.
Beyoncé posted the first image of the twins on Instagram in celebration of their one-month birthday and announced they were called Rumi and Sir Carter.
Cricket Pearl and Birdie Leigh
Children of: Marc Silverstein and Busy Philipps
Actor Busy Philipps wasn't concerned about choosing unique monikers for her daughters, having grown up with an unusual name herself.
“I grew up Busy, obviously, so for me my name was always unusual and different,” she told The Insider With Yahoo at a Baby2Baby event. “When we named Birdie ‘Birdie,’ I swear to you I did not think it was weird. It never occurred to me that people would think, like, ‘Uh. Another celebrity naming their kid something weird.’ I swear to you I thought it was totally normal.”
And as for Cricket?
“I don’t know where that came from. It’s really weird,” she said with a laugh. “I kind of can’t take credit for either of the names because it really was my husband.”
Read more: The Netflix inspired baby names that could soon be on the rise
Aleph Portman-Millepied
Child of: Benjamin Millepied and Natalie Portman
Back in 2011 Natalie Portman and her partner Benjamin Millepied, revealed the unusual-sounding name they had picked for their baby boy.
In true celebrity fashion, they opted for the rather unconventional name, Aleph Portman-Millepied.
Aleph is the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet and means one, the first or all-encompassing.
Forrest Hardy
Child of: Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley
Tom Hardy and wife Charlotte Riley reportedly took inspiration from the silver screen when naming their second child in 2019. According to multiple reports, in a nod to one of Hardy’s favourite films, the couple decided to name their new arrival Forrest, after the cult hit starring Tom Hanks.
Read more: Unusual methods parents are using to choose baby names
Stormi and Wolf Webster
Children of: Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott
With their eldest named Stormi, Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott were never going to go conventional with the moniker for their son who they have named Wolf Webster.
The 24-year-old make-up mogul gave birth to her son on February 2, revealing his name via Instagram, posting a black-and-white image of her newborn.
Geo Grace and Dusty Rose
Children of: Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo
Victoria’s Secret model Behati Prinsloo and her husband, Adam Levine also went slightly rogue when it came to naming their children. Baby Geo Grace Levine, joined the couple’s first child, Dusty Rose Levine back in 2016.
Banks Violet Blair Duff/Koma
Child of: Hilary Duff and Matthew Koma
Hilary Duff and her partner Matthew Koma welcomed their first baby together, a girl, in October 2018 and her name is every bit as unusual as promised. Sharing a sweet snap of the newborn on Instagram, the star gushed about little Banks Violet Bair: “This little bit has fully stolen our hearts!”
She has since been joined by the more conventional-sounding Mae James Blair.
Read more: Super-heroes and TV series inspire the most popular baby names of 2021
Rani Rose Hudson Fujikawa
Child of: Kate Hudson and Danny Fujikawa
Kate Hudson opted for the unusual-sounding Rani when she welcomed her first child with partner Danny Fujikawa.
On Instagram the actor revealed the tot’s unusual name and went on to explain how to pronounce it. “We have decided to name our daughter Rani (pronounced Ronnie) after her grandfather, Ron Fujikawa. Ron was the most special man who we all miss dearly. To name her after him is an honor [sic].”
Rani joins big brother Bingham in the unique name club.
Jupiter Iris French
Child of: Ashley Tisdale and Christopher French
Actor Ashley Tisdale welcomed her first child with husband Christopher French in March 2021. When it came to picking a name, the couple went for a solar system theme and called their daughter Jupiter Iris.
