Jay-Z Reveals What He and Beyoncé Originally Planned to Name Blue Ivy

After a summer spent appearing as a backup dancer in several of her mom’s shows during the Renaissance tour, Blue Ivy has officially come into her own and stepped out on the scene. But before Blue Ivy made a name for herself, and before she was even known as Blue Ivy, her parents, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, had another name in mind.

In a recent interview with Gayle King for CBS Mornings, the rapper revealed that his 11-year-old daughter wasn’t initially going to be named Blue Ivy. “It was supposed to be Brooklyn,” the father of three said. Initially from Brooklyn himself and a place that he and Beyoncé both still feel invested in and tied to, the name made a lot of sense.

But as the couple went in for prenatal checks and progressed through their journey to parenthood, they naturally found themselves using another nickname—blueberry. “We was calling her Blueberry. Like, ‘Look at the little blueberry.’ You know, it was like a nickname,” he remembers. “It was just natural. We just took the berry off and called her Blue.”

Outside of 11-year-old Blue Ivy, the iconic music moguls are also parents to a set of 6-year-old twins, Rumi and Sir. In a 2017 episode of the podcast Rap Radar the Izzo rapper also explained the inspiration behind his twins’ names.

“Rumi is our favorite poet, so it was for our daughter,” he said. Many fans had already guessed that their youngest daughter’s name might have had something to do with the famed Persian poet, but Sir was a bit of a mystery. According to Jay-Z, it was all about his attitude. “Sir was like, man, come out the gate,” the rapper said. “He carries himself like that. He just came out, like, Sir.”

Whatever their names with parents like Beyoncé and Jay-Z, all three are destined for greatness!