Frank Zappa’s four children are named:
- Moon Unit (female, born on September 28, 1967)
- Dweezil (male, b. September 5, 1969)
- Ahmet Emuukha Rodan (male, b. May 15, 1974, and named for Ahmet Ertegun)
- Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen (female, b. July 30, 1979)
In this interview from 1975 — years before Diva arrived — Frank Zappa talked a bit about his kids’ unorthodox names:
Scott Cohen: Is one of your children named Moon Unit?
Frank Zappa: Yep.
Cohen: Son or daughter?
Zappa: Daughter.
Cohen: What are your other children’s names?
Zappa: Dweezil and Ahmet.
Cohen: Is Moon Unit the oldest?
Zappa: Yep.
Cohen: What do you call her around the house?
Zappa: I call her Moon and I call Dweezil ‘Dweezil’ and I call Ahmet ‘Ahmet.’
Cohen: I’m wondering what psychological effects a name can have.
Zappa: Well, first of all, I knew that they were going to be unique anyway because of certain other attributes, so why not have a name that goes with it. They all like their names and the kids at school do too. They don’t make fun of them; in fact, most of them are jealous of their names. You know, it always amazes me when someone who is in my age group, or even younger, asks me a question like why did you name your children that. It’s a reactionary kind of question. Why the f*ck not name your kids something like that? They’re having a good time. Besides that, if they ever wanted to change their names they can do it. It only costs about $15.
Cohen: You can’t tell from the name Moon Unit whether it’s a boy or a girl. Had Moon Unit been a boy, would you have named him the same thing?
Zappa: No, I would have named him Motor Head.
Source: Cohen, Scott. “Frank Zappa: Outraged Consumer.” Circus Raves Dec. 1975: 3.
Image: Adapted from Frank Zappa by Helge Øveras under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Motor Head? Ouch :)
I think Motorhead is from Jim “Motorhead” Sherwood, who was a member of Frank Zappa’s rock band Mothers of Invention.
I do think if he had a thing for trees, he could have had two sons named Linden and Oak and two daughters named Hazel and Elm.
Well at least none of his kids found 3 others in their first grade classroom with the same name !!!
What do you re-name a grown artist when said artist is highly praised as a genius but is actually quite adolescent in outlook, and sophomoric in relating to actual adults?
I love the kids names that’s what he and his wife named them and I love it
What awful names! Such poor choices.