The Inspiration Behind Nick Cannon And Mariah Carey's Kids' Names

With Nick Cannon expecting baby No. 4 within one year, people shouldn't be too shocked about him having more children. The entertainer did tell "The Howard Stern Show" in 2017 how his autoimmune disease, lupus, made him stop holding back in life — especially when it comes to reproduction. "I'm probably gonna die sooner than most people... so why wear condoms? I might not be here tomorrow!" Cannon said (via the Daily Mail). Indeed, Cannon has added three children to his list of seven — within the last six months alone. Brittany Bell (who also shares son Golden with the MTV host) gave birth to their daughter, Powerful Queen, in December 2020 (per MSN). And Abby De La Rose welcomed her and Cannon's twin sons Zillion and Zion in June. But the twins weren't the only Cannon baby news in June — as People reported he and girlfriend Alyssa Scott seem to be expecting his seventh child, after the model-actor posted a photo on her Instagram Stories of the couple proudly displaying her baby bump. 

Amidst all the Cannon baby announcements, one can lose track of his first two children — fraternal twins Moroccan and Monroe Scott Cannon (nicknames: Roc and Roe, respectively) — whom he shares with ex-wife Mariah Carey. Ubiquitous in the media during the ex-couple's eight-year marriage, Morocccan and Monroe have standout, unique names like their siblings. Let's find out how the high-profile erstwhile couple arrived at their twins' particular names. 

Fraternal twins Monroe and Moroccan Scott were born on April 30, 2011, reported ABC News. Daughter Monroe was, naturally, named after Marilyn Monroe, as the icon always inspired Mariah Carey. When Carey created a cosmetics line with MAC in 2015, she told InStyle, "I think I was about 6 years old, and my mother was watching a memorial to Marilyn Monroe. That's when she became my beauty icon." Moreover, in addition to owning a white grand piano from Monroe's childhood, per Refinery29, Carey also keeps one of the Hollywood star's compact mirrors purchased in an auction in her walk-in closet. 

As for Monroe's brother Moroccan's name, that moniker was due to Nick Cannon proposing to Carey on "the top floor of Carey's New York City apartment, per ABC News, which features Moroccan-inspired decor." Ahh, what a sentence to encapsulate the lifestyles of the rich and famous! According to People, Moroccan's middle name, Scott, comes from Cannon's middle name, as well as Cannon's grandmother's maiden name. (The outlet reports that Monroe doesn't have a middle name because Carey doesn't have one.)

The twins, as the outlet pointed out, had a strong following on Twitter due to the Carey-initiated hashtag, #DemBabies." #DemBabies, who are now 10, seem to be doing well as their parents now navigate the co-parenting journey. As Cannon told Us Weekly in 2019, he and Carey make it work by remembering their "unconditional love" for their twins.