13 Celebs Whose Parents Name Them After Famous Performers Or Historical Figures

Naming a child is an important and special decision, and parents often name their babies after other people they admire. Sometimes, such a name is especially fitting because their baby grows up to pursue a similar career to their namesake.

Here are 13 celebrities who were named after other famous people:

1. Taylor Swift was named after a '70s music icon — "Fire and Rain" singer James Taylor .

2. Karlie Kloss was named after another '70s music icon (and James Taylor's ex-wife) — "You're So Vain" singer Carly Simon .

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In a 2015 "Questions for Karlie " YouTube video, she said, "My parents really liked the name Carly, but they wanted to name me with a K because all my sisters' names start with a K."

3. Selena Gomez was named after the late Queen of Tejano Music, Selena Quintanilla.

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In 2016, she told Sacramento's NOW 100.5 , "My dad and mom were huge fans. My name was going to be Priscilla, but my cousin actually took the name when she was born six months before me. They actually loved [Selena's] music, so they just named me after her...I grew up, and I went to her grave. I got to go to her house. It was really crazy. And then when I started working, I remember I got to meet her family, and I just got super emotional 'cause it's so crazy to see how far everything ... I don't know where she'd be right now. It's nuts."

4. Jordan Chiles was named after basketball player and fellow Olympian Michael Jordan.

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In 2018, she told Koin , "[My mom] is literally in love with sports."

5. Cole Sprouse was named after jazz singer, pianist, and actor Nat King Cole, whose voice you likely recognize from his iconic version of "The Christmas Song."

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6. Dylan Sprouse was named after Welsh poet and writer Dylan Thomas, who's known for works like "Do not go gentle into that good night" (and was also referenced in Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department").

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7. Leonardo DiCaprio was named after Renaissance painter Leonardo da Vinci.

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In 2014, he told NPR , "My father tells me that they were on their honeymoon at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, I believe. They were looking at a da Vinci painting, and allegedly I started kicking furiously while my mother was pregnant. And my father took that as a sign, and I suppose DiCaprio wasn't that far from da Vinci. And so, my dad, being the artist that he is, said, 'That's our boy's name.'"

8. Marc Anthony — whose real name is Marco Antonio Muñiz — was named after famous '60s singer Marco Antonio Muñiz.

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He adopted a stage name to avoid confusion with the older singer.

9. Sebastian Stan is named after Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

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10. Rachel Zegler was named after Jennifer Aniston in a roundabout way — she was named after Rachel Green, the actor's iconic Friends character.

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In 2023, she told The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon , "That is a real fact, and nobody ever believes me. Because they think there's no way I'm young enough to be named after Friends, but I am. My mom...they were going to name me Catherine, but my older sister's Jaqueline. And they thought that might be too confusing for babies to figure out. My mom loved the way it sounded on Friends for Jennifer Aniston , and then that was my name."

11. Willow Smith is seemingly named after her famous father, Will Smith.

12. Willow's brother, Jaden Smith, is seemingly named after their famous mother, Jada Pinkett Smith.

13. And finally, Anne Hathaway was named after the famous poet who shares her name — Anne Hathaway, who's also known as William Shakespeare's wife.

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