Rihanna’s baby’s name revealed a year after his birth — and it has a backstory
The name of Rihanna’s child was revealed this week, nearly a year after the boy’s birth.
The child, born May 13, 2022, is named RZA Athelston Mayers, according to a copy of a birth certificate obtained by the Daily Mail and People.
RZA (pronounced rizz-uh) is also the performing name of Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, the main and founding member of legendary Staten Island hip-hop group Wu Tang Clan. Neither Rihanna or the baby’s father, rapper ASAP Rocky, have commented publicly on their child’s name.
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ASAP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Athelaston Mayers, was also named after hip-hop royalty. He and his sister Erika were named after the Long Island hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, according to 2011 profiles from Pitchfork and Complex.
ASAP Rocky, who grew up in Harlem, has recalled being raised around hip-hop in multiple interviews. Along with other major acts of the 1980s and 1990s, he regularly names the Wu-Tang Clan as among his musical influences.
“I grew up listening to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, DMX, UGK, Three 6 Mafia, Wu-Tang Clan, everybody,” he told Complex in 2011. “My mom and dad, they came to an agreement and they both named me after Rakim. Honestly, I can’t even meet that guy, man. That would be so crazy.
“I was thinking about naming my child Kanye,” he added with a laugh. ASAP Rocky has collaborated with Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, throughout his career.
Rihanna made her debut on TikTok this weekend, but her first clip was all about her infant son, whom she welcomed in May with rapper ASAP Rocky.
Rihanna first revealed she was pregnant with RZA in January 2022 with an Instagram shot of her midsection and ASAP Rocky’s hand resting on her arm. Since giving birth that May, the Grammy-winning singer and business magnate has mostly kept the child from the public eye, sparingly sharing videos of RZA to social media. She first introduced her son in a TikTok in December and posted a second video in April.
Before posting publicly about her child, with his name still under wraps, Rihanna was asked about her privacy in a November interview with the Associated Press.
“We just didn’t get around to it yet, really,” she said. “We’ve just been living. But I guess there’s a certain freedom that comes with kind of just like getting it out there.”
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As rumors swirled of a second child, Rihanna revealed she was pregnant shortly after performing at the Super Bowl LVII halftime show in February.
The “Lift Me Up” performer and ASAP Rocky are not the first set of famous people to name their child after other famous people.
Fergie and Josh Duhamel, who have since divorced, reportedly named their son, Axl Jack Duhamel, 9, after Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose. Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon, who have also divorced, named one of their 11-year-old twins, Monroe Cannon, after the late actor Marilyn Monroe, one of Carey’s inspirations, according to ABC News. David and Victoria Beckham took a more literary route, naming their child, Harper Seven Beckham, after “To Kill a Mockingbird” author Harper Lee, according to the Guardian.
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