Rihanna has shared a surprisingly personal detail about her growing family: Pharrell Williams helped name her younger son, and he did it under the assumption she was having a daughter.
In a February 2025 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Rihanna said Pharrell suggested the name Riot after “seeing something online” and “thinking it was going to be a girl.”
She also praised Pharrell’s thoughtfulness, describing him as someone who doesn’t just throw out an idea—he connects it to “history,” “energy,” and timing.
How Pharrell ended up naming Riot
Trade and entertainment coverage notes that Rihanna and A$AP Rocky’s second child is named Riot Rose Mayers, and that Pharrell’s suggestion wasn’t random—it had creative proximity to Rocky’s world, too.
As reported by Entertainment Weekly and echoed by outlets including E! News, Rocky released a 2023 track titled “RIOT (Rowdy Pipe’n)”, making the name feel like it already carried an artistic thread within their orbit.
What Rihanna has shared about her sons
Rihanna tends to keep her children out of the spotlight, but in the same Harper’s Bazaar window, she offered a few rare notes about their personalities. People reported that she described her older son, RZA, as sensitive and music-loving, while Riot is more boisterous—so eager to vocalize that Rihanna joked he’s like a built-in “morning alarm.”
Taken together, the anecdote lands as classic Rihanna: funny, specific, and a little unexpected—especially because it underscores how her long-running creative relationships (like the one with Pharrell) have quietly woven into her life offstage, too.
