What Does the Name ‘Beyoncé’ Actually Mean?

Beyoncé has a name that is recognizable everywhere. She’s one of the most successful artists in the world and is known for being an amazing singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress, among many other things. Her name is also so unique that people simply know her as Beyoncé without the need to use her last name.

However, while Beyoncé is famous, not many people know the meaning behind why she is called that. If you’re curious about her moniker, read on below to learn more about this superstar.

‘Beyoncé’ came from Tina Knowles’ maiden name

Beyoncé was born on September 4, 1981, as Beyoncé Giselle Knowles. She was given this name by her mother, Tina Knowles, whose maiden name was Beyincé (pronounced as “bay-EN-say”). Reportedly, Tina chose to give her daughter this name as a way to let her child carry on the family name since there weren’t enough men in the family to do so. Both “Beyoncé” and “Beyincé” have the meaning of “beyond others.”

Since Beyoncé’s name came from her mother’s surname, which was already quite rare, it was naturally not a very popular name to have. However, Queen Bey has managed to influence more parents to give their children this beautiful name. In 1999, the Social Security Administration reported that there were 18 births with the name Beyoncé and that number rose to 253 in 2001.

Since then, there have been almost 2,000 people called “Beyoncé.” They are mostly females born between 2000 and 2004.

Beyoncé also gave her children very meaningful names

Beyoncé married rapper and business mogul Jay-Z in 2008. The couple has three kids. With a moniker like “Beyoncé,” it seemed obvious that Queen Bey was not going to settle on common names for her children.

Her first child, Blue Ivy (b. 2012), has two meanings to her name. The first meaning pertains to the color blue and its meaning in life. Beyoncé once shared an excerpt from the book A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit on her social media page about the color blue: “The world is blue at the edge and in its depths…the light that gets lost, gives us the beauty of the world, so much of which is in the color blue.”

Although it’s not clear where the “Ivy” part comes from, it is widely believed to be a reference to the Roman numeral IV, which is four. It makes sense since four is a special number to both Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Beyoncé’s birthday is on September 4th while Jay-Z’s falls on December 4th. Meanwhile, their wedding anniversary is on April 4th. The number is so significant that Beyoncé also has it tattooed on one of her fingers.

Aside from Blue Ivy, Beyoncé and Jay-Z have twins named Rumi and Sir (b. 2017). Rumi is their daughter and she is named after a 13th-century Persian poet that the couple likes. Sir, their son, was not named after anyone special. Instead, Jay-Z revealed that little Sir’s name basically described how he came out into the world. “Sir was like, man, come out the gate,” Jay-Z said. “He carries himself like that. He just came out, like, Sir.“

While her children have rare names, the influence of Beyoncé has made these monikers a bit more popular. It has been reported that there was an increase in baby girls being called “Ivy” in 2012 and after, most likely due to Blue Ivy being born. It’s too soon to tell how “Rumi” and “Sir” have done with the general public, but given the patterns, the odds are good that they have been seeing a rise in popularity since the birth of Beyoncé’s twins.