Blue Ivy Carter entered the world on January 7th 2012. Her birth has not been officially announced, but with celebrity uncles and aunties unable to keep silent, everyone knows anyway. It's created the sort of hoo-ha normally reserved for princesses or the off-spring of world leaders. In a way, that's precisely who she is. Little girl Blue is the daughter of hip-hop royalty, Beyonce and Jay-Z.
As the first child of hip-hop megastars, she is destined to live her life in the spotlight. Photographers everywhere are desperate to be the first to publish an image of the baby. She is set to become the biggest celebrity story of 2012. News of her birth reportedly inspired nearly 9,000 Tweets a second. If true, that would set a Twitter record for a single topic simultaneously discussed on that international social network.
Blue Ivy Carter: What's in a Name?
Celebrities have long since been creative with their children's names. After the Fifi Trixbelles, Peaches, Lourdes, Sevens, Zowies, Pilot Inspektors, Memphis Eves and Beans of this world, fans could be forgiven for worrying what label might be attached to this latest famous babe.
The name that emerged is laden with meaning for her parents. The Yummy Mummy Club are amongst those pointing out that Ivy includes the Roman numerals for the number four: IV.
This is a number which Beyonce has stated that she considers lucky for her. She explained to Billboard Magazine that the fourth has been highly significant as a date. Her birthday is September 4th. Her mother, husband and several friends were also born on the fourth of a month. She also married Jay-Z on April 4th 2008. These were the reasons given behind calling her recent solo album, 'Four'. If fans are correct, then it's now also featured in the name of her daughter.
The number four could well have informed the baby's first name too. Romeo Bodda, a member of Team Beyonce, has noted on Twitter that blue is the fourth hue on the international colour wheel. Meanwhile other fans have speculated that Jay-Z's album series might be the real inspiration. They are called The Blueprint.
Of course, it could all be a huge bluff. The celebrity parents might be keeping their daughter's real name a secret for as long as possible, in order to ward off nosy reporters.
Beyonce and Jay-Z Cause Controversy at Lennox Hill Hospital
The paparazzi aren't the only people whom the expectant parents wished to keep away. There has been outrage in some quarters as the stories have begun to emerge from the Manhattan hospital, where baby Blue was born.
Fox News have spoken to other new parents present in the maternity wards of Lennox Hill Hospital. They were furious after being denied access to their own newborn children. The problem was the security measures established around the famous couple and their daughter.
Neil Coulon was one of the anxious fathers, and was told that he couldn't see his premature twins. They were in the neo-natal intensive care unit, which was a little too close to the hip-hop entourage. He was told to stay inside a certain room in the unit, where the door was locked for twenty minutes. By the time he was allowed to step outside, his own family had been sent downstairs!
Jo Harrington - Jo has a BA (Hons) in History and Philosophy and a MA in History. She has a book published on the history of Wicca.
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