Celebrity Baby Names Explained

Celebrities are known for giving their kids quirky, creative names, but what's the inspiration behind them? Wonderwall.com dug up a little background on the most unique celebrity baby names, starting with Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin's daughter, Apple Blythe Alison. It turns out the distinctive moniker was actually Chris' idea. "Her daddy said if it's a girl, I think her name should be Apple," Gwyneth told Oprah Winfrey. "It sounded so sweet and it conjured such a lovely picture for me — you know, apples are so sweet and they're wholesome and it's biblical — and I just thought it sounded so lovely and… clean! And I just thought, 'Perfect!'" The blonde beauty and her mini-me are pictured here in 2015. Keep reading for more…

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Beyonce and JAY-Z have unique explanations for all three of their children's names. The superstar couple were seemingly inspired to name their oldest daughter Blue Ivy after reading the novel "A Field Guide to Getting Lost." Bey posted an excerpt from the book on her Tumblr page a few months after Blue was born, explaining the significance. "The world is blue at its edges and in its depths," the passage reads. "This light does not touch us, does not travel the whole distance, the light that gets lost, gives us the beauty of the world, so much of which is in the color blue." It's believed that her middle name, Ivy, is the phonetic version of the Roman numeral IV, as 4 is Beyonce's favorite number. Jay opened up about the meaning behind their twins' names, Sir and Rumi Carter, in an interview with Tidal in August 2017. "Rumi is our favorite poet," the rapper shared. "Sir is like, come off the gate, he carries himself like that. He just came out, like, Sir."

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Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West have given each of their three children very unusual names. They named their oldest daughter North because she represents the "highest point" between Kim and Kanye. In fact, the name got a seal of approval from Ms. Vogue herself, Anna Wintour. "Anna Wintour [told] us, 'North is a genius name,'" Kim told British GQ. "Kanye and I looked at one another and just laughed. I guess at that point it sort of stuck." The married couple named their son Saint because the baby boy was a "blessing" amid Kim's difficult pregnancy. Their newest addition, daughter Chicago, is named after Kanye's hometown and pays homage to his late mother. Kim is pictured here taking North and Saint to a Los Angeles skating rink in 2017.

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You might think you're serious about your fandoms, but would you name your child after your pop culture obsession? Nicolas Cage did! The actor loves Superman so much that he named his son Kal-El after the superhero. "My wife wanted a unique name and originally I thought of the name Kyle and then she said, 'No, something more unusual but beautiful,'" Nic said in 2007. "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 American and that's all three. I just thought it was a beautiful name and it had kind of a magical ring to it."

Gwen Stefani and ex Gavin Rossdale have three sons with very creative names. Their eldest son, Kingston James McGregor, is named after the capital of Jamaica (Gwen's a notorious reggae music fan) and shares one of his his middle names, McGregor, with dad Gavin. Gwen's said she stole second son Zuma Nesta Rock's first name from No Doubt bandmate Tom Dumont; Nesta is Bob Marley's real name. Their third son, Apollo Bowie Flynn, received his Greek god moniker after Gavin nixed the name Jupiter; Bowie is Gavin's mom's maiden name while Flynn is the maiden name of Gwen's mother. Kingston and Apollo are pictured here with their mom in February 2018.

Musician John Legend recently shared that he and model wife Chrissy Teigen gave their children names with musical significance. "We named our first daughter Luna Simone Stephens; every name we give to our kids I think will have a little bit of musical history to it," he told E! News (John's a big fan of singer Nina Simone). "So Miles is, of course, is the same name as the great Miles Davis." He also shared that Chrissy was particularly in love with the name Theodore, so they made it Miles' middle name.

Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson gave their firstborn daughter, True, a family name. "I'm so excited to welcome my precious little granddaughter True," Kris Jenner wrote on Instagram. "FUN FACT… my Grandfather's name on my Dad's side was True Otis Houghton….my Dad's name was Robert True Houghton…so I am so excited Khloe named her daughter True!!!"

Cheryl Cole and Liam Payne wanted with a strong name for their son, hence the moniker Bear. The former One Direction singer revealed that Cheryl decided on the tiny tot's unique first name. "I wanted a more traditional name and she wanted a name that was more unusual," he said. "And the reason she chose Bear in the end was because Bear is a name that when you leave a room, you won't forget. And I like that."

David Beckham and Victoria Beckham bestowed creative names on all three of their sons. Their oldest, Brooklyn, was given his first name because the former Spice Girl liked the name "Brooke" and was in New York's Brooklyn borough when she found out she was pregnant. "I had always liked the name Brooke and then we suddenly thought about Brooklyn," Victoria wrote in her autobiography. "I'd always like it as a place — it's very multicultural, very grounded. And it was only afterwards that I realized how appropriate it was because it was in New York that I found out I was pregnant and where David came after the World Cup." Their second son, Romeo, was given the romantic moniker because the couple "decided they liked [it]." "I don't know if either of them studied 'Romeo and Juliet' at school," a family spokesperson said when Romeo was born. Their youngest son, Cruz, was actually named after A-list actor Tom Cruise (and the cross)! "I must admit, when we met Tom, I remember turning around to Victoria and saying, 'Cruise is a great name, but we could spell it different,'" David has said. "And also, living in Spain [at the time], Cruz is spelt the way it is in Spanish. So that's why we got it." All three boys are pictured here with their parents at Brooklyn's photography book launch in June 2017.

Victoria Beckham and David Beckham's daughter, Harper Seven, also has an interesting name. The little girl's first name was inspired by Victoria's favorite book, "To Kill a Mockingbird." "It's a very strong, passionate book and the author is Harper Lee, and that is where Harper is from," David has explained. He also revealed that Harper's middle name, Seven, has a spiritual meaning. "Seven symbolizes spiritual perfection, the seven wonders of the world, the seven colors of the rainbow and in many cultures, it's a lucky number." Little Harper is pictured here with her mom on vacation in France in August 2018.

Reality TV star and beauty mogul Kylie Jenner can't remember exactly how she and boyfriend Travis Scott chose daughter Stormi's name. "I really don't know how we thought of Storm," Kylie told the Evening Standard. "Her dad insisted it was him, but I feel like it was me. I didn't really like just Storm — I didn't feel like that was her name. So then it became Stormi and it just stuck."

Kate Hudson and former fiance Matt Bellamy went with family-inspired names for their first and only son together, Bingham. "So happy! Just had a baby, Bingham 'Bing' Hawn Bellamy," the Muse frontman tweeted after the tot's birth. "For those wondering, Bingham is my mum's maiden name and Bing Russell was Kurt's dad. Family connections all round!" (Kate was raised by Kurt Russell, mom Goldie Hawn's longtime partner.)

Jason Lee was inspired to name his son Pilot Inspektor after listening to indie band Grandaddy's 2000 album "The Sophtware Slump." "The opening track, 'He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot,' absolutely blew my mind when I first heard it," Jason told Entertainment Weekly. "It was from this track that my wife, Beth [Riesgraf], came up with the name Pilot for our son."

"Wayward Pines" actress Shannyn Sossamon wanted a "word, not a name" for her son with children's book author Dallas Clayton, so the couple decided on Audio Science. "My boyfriend read through the dictionary three or four times," she told Contact Music. "We were going to call him Science but thought it might get shortened to Sci, as in Simon."

Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey were inspired by two entirely different things when coming up with names for their twins. Their daughter, Monroe, was named after Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe, who's served as an inspiration for Mariah. Their son, Moroccan Scott, was named after a Moroccan-themed room in Mariah's New York City penthouse where Nick proposed to the singer. Scott is Nick's middle name and his grandmother's maiden name.

Pink shared the sentimental meaning behind daughter Willow Sage's name in an interview with HELLO! magazine. "I grew up near one [willow tree]. It is the most flexible tree and nothing can break it — no wind, no elements. It can bend and withstand anything. I love that sentiment and I want that for her," the pop star said of her daughter with husband Carey Hart. "Sage is cleansing and sacred and it sounds great with Willow. It doesn't hurt that her last name is Hart — flexible, cleansed heart." Aww!

Magician Penn Jillette wanted a completely original name for his daughter and boy, did he pick one! The entertainer and his wife, Emily Zolten Jillette, named their little girl Moxie Crimefighter. "Moxie is a name that was created by an American for the first national soft drink and then went on to mean 'chutzpah,' and that's nice," Penn told The New York Times. "Everyone I know with an unusual name loves it… It's only the losers named Dave that think having an unusual name is bad, and who cares what they think. They're named Dave." Their son, Zolten Penn, shares names with his mother and father.

Adorable couple Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell gave their daughters equally cute yet quirky names. The Hollywood couple named their oldest daughter Lincoln after initially picking out the name for a boy. "[Dax] always wanted his first to be named Lincoln and so we got lazy when we found out she was a girl and said, 'Hey, why not Lincoln,'" Kristen shared. Youngest daughter Delta's name was derived from a joke with a friend. "It was a joke because our first daughter's name is Lincoln, which is very masculine," Dax said told TV host Ellen DeGeneres. "So a friend of mine teasingly texted me, 'Oh, great! What's this one gonna be? Navy Seal? Delta Force? Green Beret?' I was reading this text out loud to Kristen. And I said, 'Oh, Louis Steve said what if we named her Delta?' 'Delta! Delta Bell Shepard! That's it!' And that's it!"

Forest Whitaker and wife Keisha chose unique names for all four of their children: Ocean, Sonnett, True and Autumn. The actor decided on creative names because he wanted them to "kind of touch their destiny by their names… Autumn is sort of flighty and Sonnet is much more of an artist," Forest explained. "True was very strong, and Ocean just has a big heart. He wants to be a veterinarian… He's been talking about it for years." Autumn and True are shown here with their dad in June 2018.

Jessica Simpson and hubby Eric Johnson chose to honor the former NFL player's Swedish grandfather with their son's name: Ace Knute. The adorable tot shares his middle name with his great-grandfather, Knute (pronounced Ka-nute) Johnson. Ace's older sister, Maxwell Drew, also has a family name. Maxwell is Eric's middle name and his grandmother's surname. The little girl also shares her middle name with grandmother Tina Simpson, whose maiden name is Drew.

Spike Lee and wife Tonya Lewis Lee gifted their daughter with the name Satchel. The legendary director named his daughter after pioneering black baseball pitcher Satchel Paige. Spike and Tonya are seen here with Satchel and son Jackson at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

Zooey Deschanel and producer husband Jacob Pechenik love otters so much they named their daughter after the animal (no, seriously)! "[It's a family name] in the sense that we're all mammals," the actress joked about Elsie Otter's name while visiting Ellen DeGeneres' chat show. "Elsie is kind of a classic name… and then we were like, the middle name can be a little bit wild. We both found that we had a mutual love for otters." She added that she liked the idea that few other children would share Elsie's unique middle name. When their son came along, he got the mammal treatment too: They named him Charlie Wolf.

Steven Spielberg and wife Kate Capshaw gave daughter Destry Allyn a very theatrical name. The couple chose Destry because it's gender neutral and means "war horse" in French (which is, coincidentally, also the name of a movie Steven directed in 2012). Steven and Kate are pictured here with Destry and son Sawyer at the 2017 New York Film Festival.

Kate Winslet decided to honor a childhood friend when she named son Bear Blaze. The actress told Ellen DeGeneres that her son's name was inspired by a friend who was nicknamed "Bear" because "he was everyone's shoulder to cry on, he was a big bear hug, he was just this great figure in my life." Blaze commemorates a fire Kate escaped the weekend she met Bear's father, third husband Ned Rocknroll.

Ashlee Simpson and ex-husband Pete Wentz named their son Bronx Mowgli. His first name comes from "a very specific story between me and my [then] wife," Pete told Time magazine in 2008. Bronx's middle name was inspired by the main character in "The Jungle Book." Ashlee's daughter with second husband Evan Ross also has a very unique name, Jagger Snow, which was reportedly inspired by Rolling Stones rocker Mick Jagger.

Helen Hunt gave her daughter a traditional Hawaiian moniker and also paid homage to her father. The teen's first name, Makena'lei, means "many flowers in heaven," according to an interview Helen gave to People magazine. Makena'lei shares her middle name, Gordon, with her grandfather.

Alec Baldwin had quite the cheeky response when a fan asked him how he came up with daughter Ireland's name in 2012. The actor tweeted that the name fits because "she's beautiful but can't manage her finances." Ouch!