We Can't Get Over Blue Ivy's Height Transformation

Unlike her namesake vine, Blue Ivy Carter didn't need the aid of a fence and plenty of direct sunlight to grow upwards. However, the daughter of Beyoncé and Jay-Z has had a spotlight shining directly on her as she's gone from being a tiny bundle of Beyhive joy to a dancing tween whose talent set social media abuzz. By expertly executing her mom's moves during the "Renaissance" tour, Blue Ivy showed us that being an industry plant isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The inspiration for Blue Ivy's name is actually related to her size, but her mother and father didn't give her the moniker because they expected her height to keep creeping up like ivy climbing a trellis. Speaking to Gayle King for CBS Mornings, Jay-Z revealed that it started as a slightly different nickname that he and Beyoncé came up with back when their daughter was just a tiny blip on a sonogram. "They're super small, and we were calling her Blueberry. ... For nine months we're like, 'Look at little Blueberry,'" Jay-Z recalled. When Blue grew well beyond the berry stage, Beyoncé announced that she was pregnant by performing that iconic belly rub at the 2011 MTV VMAs. It wouldn't be the first time Blue Ivy shared the stage with one of her parents at an awards show. In fact, they're one of the rare occasions where we get to see the Carter family together, which helps us gauge just how much Blue Ivy has grown.

When Blue Ivy was six years old, she was photographed tilting her head way back to gaze upon her father's face at the 2018 Grammy Awards. According to The U.S. Sun, Jay-Z is around 6-foot-2, and the top of his daughter's head was still a few inches below his chest at the time. Beyoncé's height is reportedly 5-foot-6, but heels often make her appear far taller in photos. At the Grammys, Blue Ivy was also adding an inch or two to her stature by pairing a pair of sparkly silver kitten heels with her stylish white suit designed by Valery Kovalska. WWD reported that Blue Ivy already had her own stylist, Manuel A. Mendez, and he helped her put together the sophisticated look.

Blue Ivy wasn't just dressing like a mini adult as a kindergartener. According to Jay-Z, she displayed a maturity well beyond her years when she piped up to let him know that his behavior was not acceptable as he took her to school one day. "We're driving, and then I just hear a little voice. 'Dad? ... I didn't like when you told me to get in the car the way you told me. ... It hurt my feelings,'" the rapper recalled on "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction." Jay-Z was impressed with his daughter for sticking up for herself in such a grown-up way. He continued, "I was like, 'That's the most beautiful thing you've ever said to me.'"

By 2023, the top of Blue Ivy's head reached her dad's chin. The Daily Mail observed that she also appeared to be almost as tall as Lil Uzi Vert, who was photographed with Blue Ivy and Jay-Z at Super Bowl LVII. The "Just Wanna Rock" rapper is 5-foot-4.

That same year, Blue Ivy joined her mom on stage as a dancer during Beyoncé's "Renaissance" tour, which required the 11-year-old to perform complex choreography while wearing high heels. Her grandmother, Tina Knowles-Lawson, explained why this was no big deal for Blue Ivy. "Well, this is a heels family. You're trained early to walk in heels," she told People. However, Blue Ivy apparently likes to wear comfier footwear on occasion. During his "CBS Mornings" interview, Jay-Z revealed that he's his daughter's go-to guy for advice on rocking athleisure right. "She asks me, if this is cool, if her sneakers or whatever she's wearing [is cool]," the proud papa told Gayle King. However, the "Big Pimpin'" hitmaker also admitted that Blue Ivy doesn't think that he's as big of a deal as his fans do. "There was a time where she was like, 'Daaaad,'" he recalled. His reaction to her typical embarrassed tween behavior was to insist, "I'm cool. I don't know what you sayin' ... Your parents is cool!" (We're just going to guess a Gen-Zer would find such a statement more cringe than cool.)

At the 2024 Grammys, Blue Ivy joined Jay-Z on stage when he accepted the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. The rapper couldn't resist cracking a dad joke by referencing the time he said that his Grammy trophy was going to be put to use as his baby girl's "sippy cup." Jay-Z told the crowd, "Blue's grown now, she doesn't take sippy cups — and she has her own Grammys," per Page Six. At age 9, Blue Ivy scored one of the awards in the best music video category. She was given a writing credit for the Beyoncé song "Brown Skin Girl," which helped her earn the honor of becoming the second-youngest Grammy winner.

Just as she did in 2018, Blue Ivy wore white at the 2024 Grammys. However, this time around she opted for a calf-length gown with an elegant off-the-shoulder neckline. The Vivienne Westwood dress had a princessy silhouette, but Blue Ivy wasn't wearing delicate slippers on her feet. While she's long outgrown her booster chair, she gave herself a considerable boost with her choice of footwear: a pair of funky, chunky platform boots by Larroude Dolly. They added a few inches to her height, making her appear almost as tall as her father. Some fans also think that Beyoncé and Blue Ivy exchanged a very grown glance after watching Dua Lipa dance in front of them. She might be tall, but she's still her mom's mini-me!