Celebrities’ children’s names seem to be getting more and more out of the box, gone are the traditional Johns and Jacks (except the Biebers recently born son of course) and in come a new generation with their unique, never before seen names.
2012 saw the birth of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s first child Blue Ivy, which caused a stir. Her name was received with skepticism among different audiences, but we all grew to love her as Beyoncé’s mini me.
Despite the earlier scepticism, Jay-Z and Beyoncé welcomed their twins, Rumi Carter and Sir Carter, on June 3rd 2017 – yes you read it right, their son’s government first name is Sir.
They’re bold names and we wouldn’t expect anything less. But beyond the wow factor, here are the meanings behind Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s twins’ names.
Sir was named due to the circumstances around his birth
@anjies_hair Such a adorable moment of the twins as babies
#cowboycarterbeyonce#cowboycarter#cowboycartertour#rumi#sirandrumi#may4th#beyonce#beehive
In a 2017 interview on the Rap Radar podcast, Jay-Z described that his son’s name is based on the commanding presence he had when he was born. He explained: “Sir was like, man, come out the gate. He carries himself like that. He just came out, like, Sir.”
This is slightly confusing as most babies just come out crying, but who am I to question one of the greatest rappers of all time? Jay-Z’s explanation of the name is reminding me of the 2015 Boss Baby film – maybe their son really did come out the womb in a suit?
Rumi was actually named after a poet
In the same podcast, Jay-Z shared that their daughter was named after the 13th century Persian poet Rumi, as this is the duo’s “favourite poet”. Personally, Beyoncé is my favourite poet so I guess I’m less cultured.
Rumi touched on themes including mysticism, love and the divine throughout his poetry, so it’s a touching tribute for her daughter to carry the same name.
Largely influenced by the couple’s love of fine art, poetry and spirituality, these elements are displayed throughout Beyoncé’s music, where her album covers often include references to fine art pieces. Her 2016 album Lemonade also included poems by Warsan Shire.
Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, described the name as “not only beautiful but logical” in a post on Instagram and shared a variety of the poets work too.
Social media users shared in the comments how much they resonated with one stanza: “A thousand half-loves must be forsaken to take one whole heart home”.
I always thought Beyonce only took Grammys home but it’s nice to know she can relate to her fandom on a deeper level.
Both names have increased in popularity since Beyonce used the names, with the name Rumi being five times more popular in the US and gaining traction as a name for both boys and girls.
The name Sir however hasn’t exactly taken the UK by storm – probably for the best, as if that baby was to ever be knighted in the future, a Sir Sir would be on the cards … what a mouthful.
Featured image via TikTok @rayjl93 @nas.archives
