Rihanna has revealed the surprising inspiration behind her youngest son’s name, Riot Rose Mayers. The global superstar shared that rapper Pharrell Williams played a key role in naming her second child with A$AP Rocky.
Rihanna shares how Pharrell Williams gave a name for her son
Rihanna and A$AP Rocky welcomed their second child in August 2023, and the name Riot quickly became a topic of curiosity among fans. During a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Rihanna shared that Pharrell Williams, who collaborated with Rocky on the 2023 track “RIOT (Rowdy Pipe’n),” proposed the name.
“He (Pharrell) gave us this name thinking it was going to be a girl, because he had seen something online,” Rihanna revealed. She added, “Pharrell is very deep. 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.”
The name Riot reflects the child’s vibrant and energetic nature. Rihanna described her youngest son as “hilarious” and full of life. “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!” she quipped.
For those wondering about the inspiration behind Rihanna’s first son, RZA, he was named after the Wu-Tang Clan rapper, whose real name is Robert Fitzgerald Diggs. Rihanna spoke lovingly about RZA, calling him “just an empath” who is drawn to music, books, and water.
The singer further shared how RZA responded to having a baby brother, “like all [new] siblings do, and at first Riot was understanding that his role was being the little brother. Now he knows he’s in charge.”
