Weird celebrity baby names are almost expected these days – in fact, it’d be weirder if a celeb popped out a Sophie or a Harry.
And since when have our favourite crazy celebrity couple Kim and Kanye ever missed out on a trend? Kimye have surpassed even their own unusual standards this time and named their firstborn North – that’s North West – and Twitter has been a-twitter with jokes ever since on the direction of the couple’s naming choice.
Of course, they aren’t the first celebs to give their little ‘un a, quite frankly, mind-boggling name. Stars worldwide have been coming up with bonkers monikers for their offspring since time immemorial – some of them even make North West seem normal. After all, when you’re mega famous, you can do what you want, can’t you?
Here’s our pick of the zaniest to date…
1. Apple Martin
First child of Hollywood mega star Gwyneth Paltrow and her Coldplay husband Chris Martin, Apple was without a doubt the fruitiest name to land on Planet Celeb. “Apples are so sweet and they’re wholesome and it’s biblical,” said Gwynie of her daughter’s unusual name. At one celebrity party, Robbie Williams famously got his fruit confused and asked Gwynie how little Melon was doing. #mortified
2. Zowie Bowie
Musical megastar of the 70s and 80s David Bowie (ask your mum) named his son Zowie. Yep, Zowie Bowie. Actually named Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones at birth, David and now-ex-wife and former model Mary Angela Barnet decided that calling him Zowie Bowie would be much more fun. Because that isn’t asking to get bullied at school at all, is it? At the age of 12, Zowie reckoned that he’d rather be called Joey, but these days, he goes by his birth name of Duncan Jones, and he’s a surprisingly normal and successful film director.
3. Kal-El Cage
Nicolas Cage’s wife Alice Kim popped out a beautiful baby boy on 2005. And what did the couple name him? Kal-El. So far, so weird. Weirder still when you learn that Kal-El is, er, Superman’s birth name. You couldn’t make this up, could you?
4. Blanket Jackson
He’s Prince Michael II on paper (his older brother is also called Prince Michael – why bother coming up with a whole new name for your new child?), but Michael Jackson’s youngest child is affectionately known as Blanket. We don’t know why. We don’t really want to know why.
5. Pilot Inspektor Riesgraf Lee
My Name Is Early star Jason Lee named his son Pilot Inspektor. Sounds more like an occupation to us. Apparently, the unusual name was inspired by a song by indie band Grandaddy.
Honourable Mentions
Jamie Oliver and wife Jools are the proud parents of four kids – and they went for an unusual floral theme throughout with Poppy, Daisy, Petal and Buddy. Bob Geldof and Paula Yates produced three beautiful girls together – named Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches Honeyblossom and Pixie. Sunday Rose Urban, daughter of Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, just makes us think of a Sunday roast. We’re fans of Bronx Mowgli Wentz, son of Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson (Mowgli? MOWGLI?!). Andre 3000’s brood are called Seven, Mars and Puma. And, last but not least, Frank Zappa’s children Moon Unit and Diva Muffin – yes. Diva Muffin – set a very high standard for celebrity parents-to-be. With the most-anticipated celebrity birth of the year looming, the big question is – will the Royal Baby have a typically wacky celeb name or something more tranditional? William, Kate – it’s over to you.
And it’s not just celebrities…
Joining the trend of unusual names, us normals are getting in on the act too. In 2012, some parents turned to Disney for inspiration, with some little tykes coming into the world with the names Nemo and Tinkerbell. Other unusual names registered last year included Sailor, Zed and Buzz-bee, while in the States, someone decided to name their baby boy Hippo. In New Zealand, one couple famously named their daughter Tallulah Does the Hullah From Hawaii, only to be forced to change is by NZ courts. New Zealand have actually had to crack down on daft names, coming up with a banned list – one couple tried and failed to call their kid 4Real, another wanted to name their twins Fish and Chips, yet one child was successfully named Number 16 Bus Shelter.
