Rihanna Reveals the Unexpected Celebrity Behind Son Riot’s Name—And It’s Not Who You’d Think!

Rihanna Reveals the Celeb Who Inspired Name of Her and A$AP Rocky’s Son Riot

More than a year after welcoming their son Riot, Rihanna has finally shared the surprising celebrity who inspired his name.

It turns out that Pharrell Williams played a major role in naming Rihanna and A$AP Rocky’s youngest child, Riot Rose Mayers. The legendary producer and artist suggested the name, originally thinking they were having a girl. “He gave us this name thinking it was going to be a girl,” Rihanna told *Harper’s Bazaar* in a new interview, “because he had seen something online.”

Pharrell and Rocky had previously collaborated on the 2023 track *RIOT (Rowdy Pipe’n)*, making the name even more fitting. Rihanna praised Pharrell’s deep-thinking nature, saying, “He’s not surface. He will never say anything and just leave it there with a full stop. He will have the entire history: the energy, the time, the month that it is.”

Beyond his unique name, Rihanna also shared insight into her son Riot’s personality. “Riot, he’s just hilarious,” she said. “When he wakes up, he starts to squeal, scream. Not in a crying way. He just wants to sing. And I’m like, ‘Okay, here we go!’ He’s my alarm in the morning! He’s not taking no for an answer from anyone.”

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky (real name Rakim Mayers) are also parents to 2-year-old RZA Athelston Mayers, named after the iconic Wu-Tang Clan member. Rihanna describes RZA as an “empath” with a deep love for music, books, and water.

RZA himself, whose real name is Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, responded to the honor, telling *CNN*, “It’s a great honor to know that there’s another generation that feels the strength and inspiration of that name.” He added, “RZA is only a name, it’s a title… All the blessings in the world from me.”

As for expanding their family, Rihanna has hinted that she and Rocky are open to having more children. Speaking to *E! News* in December 2023, she joked, “I’m batting at 75 percent for a boy next time, so we’ll just keep our fingers crossed.” However, she admitted that if she found out she was pregnant again, she would “just cry out of pure anxiety for one day and then get over it the next.”

The power couple’s love story goes way back. They first collaborated in 2012 at the MTV Video Music Awards, performing *Cockiness*, and later toured together in 2013. Today, they are not just partners in music, but in life and parenthood, raising their two sons in the spotlight.