Everything Beyoncé and Jay-Z Have Shared About Their Kids Blue, Rumi, and Sir

Beyoncé and Jay-Z are one of entertainment’s most famous couples—but they’re also one of the most private. They tend to keep details about life with their three children under wraps.

First, a quick refresher: The two mega-stars met in 1999, began dating in 2000, and married in 2008. Four years later, in 2012, they welcomed their daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, and in 2017, they added twins Rumi and Sir Carter to their growing family.

Beyoncé opened up about parenting her three children in a rare interview with GQ, for the cover of the magazine’s October 2024 issue. “Raising three kids isn’t easy,” she said. The older they get, the more they become their own individuals with unique needs, hobbies, and social lives. My twins are God-sent. Parenting constantly teaches you about yourself. It takes a lot of prayer and patience. I love it. It’s grounding and fulfilling.”

Below learn more about Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s three children: Blue Ivy, Rumi, and Sir Carter.

Blue Ivy Carter

On January 7, 2012 Beyoncé and Jay-Z welcomed their daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, New York.

Blue Ivy’s arrival was a long time coming for the couple. In Life Is But a Dream, Beyoncé’s 2013 autobiographical documentary, the Cowboy Carter singer opened up about having a miscarriage before becoming pregnant with her daughter. "I heard the heartbeat, which was the most beautiful music I ever heard in my life… being pregnant was very much like falling in love," she said. "[Early into the pregnancy] I flew back to New York to get my checkup—and no heartbeat. Literally the week before I went to the doctor, everything was fine, but there was no heartbeat."

Beyoncé first revealed her pregnancy with Blue Ivy in an instantly iconic moment: onstage at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles. During a performance of her mega-hit "Love on Top,” the singer removed her sequined jacket to reveal her baby bump. "I want you to stand up on your feet,” she told the crowd, flashing a huge smile. “I want you to feel the love that's growing inside me."

In a 2023 interview with CBS Mornings, Jay-Z revealed the inspiration for Blue’s name—and that the moniker wasn’t their original choice. "It was supposed to be Brooklyn," the mogul told host Gayle King, before adding that Blue was an iteration of a nickname he and Beyoncé gave their baby during her pregnancy. "We was calling her Blueberry. Like, 'Look at the little blueberry.' You know, it was like a nickname—it was just natural. We just took the berry off and called her Blue."

Although Beyoncé and Jay-Z kept Blue largely out of the public eye as a child, she began following in the footsteps of her famous parents—and pretty much immediately! On January 9, 2012—just two days after Blue was born—Jay-Z released his song “Glory,” an ode to his newborn daughter that also featured her backing vocals. The song earned Blue Ivy a Guinness World Record for being the youngest person to have a song appear on a Billboard chart.

As she’s grown up, Blue has also collaborated with her mother. In 2020, she was featured on Beyoncé’s "Brown Skin Girl,” from the soundtrack to The Lion King: The Gift, which her mother also produced and curated. The song’s accompanying video—featured in Beyoncé’s 2020 film Black Is King—earned her a Grammy Award for Best Music Video for her feature, making her the second-youngest individually credited Grammy winner.

In January 2023, Blue also joined her mother onstage at the new Atlantis the Royal Resort in Dubai to perform a duet of the song; the evening marked Beyoncé’s first live headline show in four years. The mother-daughter pair looked stunning together: Beyoncé wore a yellow corseted dress topped with a feathered skirt and backpiece, while Blue, then 11, wore a red sequined jumpsuit topped with a billowy skirt. (According to Variety, when the song ended, Blue hugged her mom, walked up the steps, struck a pose, and blew kisses to the crowd.)

Five months later, starting in May 2023, Blue began joining her mom onstage during her Renaissance World Tour, performing as a backup dancer for two songs ("My Power" and "Black Parade").

Beyoncé took to Instagram to praise her first-born daughter after her stadium debut. "My beautiful first born 🙏🏾 I’m so proud and thankful to be your mama," she wrote accompanying a series of clips of Blue dancing. "You bring us so much joy, my sweet angel."

The Lemonade singer has also highlighted Blue’s creative tendencies: “Blue is an artist. She has great taste in music and fashion. She is a fantastic editor, painter, and actress. She has been creating characters since she was three,” Beyoncé told GQ in September, before emphasizing her daughter’s eagerness to collaborate with her onstage. “She’s a natural, but I did not want Blue onstage. Blue wanted it for herself. She took it seriously and she earned it. And most importantly, she had fun! We all watched her grow more and more every night before our eyes.”

Burgeoning performance career aside, Blue has kept busy over the years! In 2021, she helped induct her dad into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; in 2022, she bid $80,000 on diamond earrings at the Wearable Art Gala in Los Angeles, which her grandmother (and host of the event) Tina Knowles wore that night; and in 2024, she attended the Super Bowl and also joined her dad onstage at the 66th Grammy Awards while he received the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. Casual!

Sir and Rumi Carter

On June 13, 2017, Beyoncé welcomed twins—a daughter, Rumi, and a son, Sir—via emergency C-section.

The mega-star first announced she was expecting twins in an Instagram post on February 1, 2017. "We would like to share our love and happiness,” she captioned a photo of herself holding her growing baby bump against a backdrop of flowers. “We have been blessed two times over. We are incredibly grateful that our family will be growing by two, and we thank you for your well wishes.”

In her 2019 Netflix documentary Homecoming, the singer described her second pregnancy as "extremely difficult” and revealed she’d developed preeclampsia. She also opened up about her second pregnancy in a 2018 interview with Vogue, "I was 218 pounds the day I gave birth to Rumi and Sir,” she told the magazine. “I was swollen from toxemia and had been on bed rest for over a month. My health and my babies’ health were in danger, so I had an emergency C-section. We spent many weeks in the NICU. My husband was a soldier and such a strong support system for me."

When Rumi and Sir turned one month old, Beyoncé took to Instagram to reveal the first photo of the twins—and to reveal their names. In September 2017, Jay-Z sat down with the Rap Radar podcast to promote his album 4:44; as part of the far-ranging interview, he revealed the inspiration behind his twins’ monikers. "Rumi is our favorite poet, so it was for our daughter," the “Empire State of Mind” rapper said. "Sir was like, man, come out the gate. He carries himself like that. He just came out, like, Sir."

Although Beyoncé and Jay-Z have largely kept their twins out of the limelight during their childhood years, they’ve started to make a few more public appearances.

In August 2021, the twins made a cameo in an ad for a collaboration between IVY Park, their mom’s athleisure line, and Adidas.

And, in March 2024, when Beyoncé released her acclaimed eighth album Cowboy Carter, Rumi followed in her sister’s footsteps and made her music debut. At the start of "Protector," the album’s fourth track, Rumi says, "Mom, can I hear the lullaby please?” Her feature earned her the title of the youngest woman to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.