These stars made a reputation for themselves … actually!
When fame calls, some celebrities go for pseudonyms as an alternative of their beginning names. This selection is useful for a lot of functions: It creates a boundary between their public personas and personal lives, provides them an air of confidence and, nicely, simply sounds a complete lot catchier. (Admit it, Woman Gaga is a little more glamorous to say than Stefani Germanotta.)
Typically these monikers are a twist on their given names, generally it comes out of skinny air and infrequently there is a distinctive story behind it. From Lil Nas X to Chappell Roan, learn beneath to find the origins of those stars’ stage names.
Chappell Roan
Missouri-born singer Kayleigh Amstutz views her Chappell Roan persona as one massive “artwork mission.” In a June 2024 interview for Paper journal, she defined it is to “honor that [10-year-old] model of myself that I used to be by no means allowed to be.” This inventive course helps her divorce her true self from her onstage persona — who dazzles together with her retro glam pop sound and ultra-camp outfits — nevertheless, Roan’s stage identify additionally serves as a bridge between the 2 identities.
“My grandfather’s identify was Dennis Okay. Chappell, so I took Chappell in his honor,” the “Pink Pony Membership” singer instructed Oxford’s pupil newspaper, Cherwell, in August 2022. “Earlier than he handed away in 2016 as a result of mind most cancers, I instructed him that I used to be going to be Chappell for him. Roan got here from his favourite tune, which was known as ‘The Strawberry Roan,’ an outdated Western tune [by Marty Robbins] a few pinkish-red horse. It’s a really sentimental identify.”
Charli xcx
Should you’re even remotely on-line, you’ve got doubtless seen how Charli xcx (born Charlotte Emma Aitchison) has painted the web neon inexperienced together with her Brat summer time marketing campaign — however the British pop singer has integrated internet tradition into her model for the reason that starting. Sarcastically sufficient, the “xcx” in her stage identify harks again to her MSN Messenger show identify throughout her days at Bishop’s Stortford School, per The Guardian. However do you wanna “Guess” what these three letters actually imply?
“Effectively, individuals have speculated that it means ‘Kiss Kiss,’ however I actually simply selected the identify as a result of I assumed it seemed cool and sounded catchy,” she instructed Rolling Stone in March 2012. “However actually, in the mean time, it simply stands for every little thing I’ve accomplished to date.”
Megan Thee Stallion
Hotties, rise! Born Megan Jovon Ruth Pete, the 5-foot-10 rapper from Texas channels her alter-ego Tina Snow onstage and goes by the pseudonym Megan Thee Stallion, which springs from a nickname individuals gave her again in highschool.
“Since I used to be youthful, most likely about 15 or 16, I’ve at all times had the identical physique. Older guys would at all times be like, ‘Oh, you a stallion,’ ” the “Hiss” rapper instructed Houstonia journal in September 2017. “So I lastly needed to ask like, ‘Is {that a} good factor?’ All people just about took it and ran with it, after which I put it as my principal identify on Twitter, and ever since then everyone’s simply been calling me Stallion.”
Lizzo
“It is a teenage nickname,” the Texas singer, born Melissa Viviane Jefferson, instructed James Corden on The Late Late Present in June 2022. “We did a factor, in Houston, you chop the second half of your identify and put an O. I used to be ‘Lisso’ with two s’s, then everybody mentioned it with somewhat swang to it so I modified the s’s to z’s and the remainder is historical past.”
Lil Nas X
Requested concerning the origins of his stage identify by Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Present, the singer — whose given first identify is Montero — defined that Nas got here from his “Web alias,” earlier than including that he took inspiration from different new musicians when he got here up with the remainder of his stage identify.
“After I began doing music, I used to be like, ‘I wish to have enjoyable with this,’ ” he mentioned. “And each new rapper’s identify is Lil, Lil, Lil. ‘What if I used to be Lil Nas? That’d be humorous.’ So I used to be like, ‘Alright, guess. I will be Lil Nas.’ And I added the X in a while.”
Queen Latifah
In a 2019 interview with NBC, Queen Latifah (born Dana Elaine Owens) mentioned her mother initially wasn’t a fan of her stage identify.
“My mom kinda laughed. She was like, ‘Queen? I ain’t calling you Queen,’ ” Latifah recalled.
Nonetheless, the rapper-turned-actress has by no means doubted the moniker. She mentioned “Latifah” means “delicate and really sort” in Arabic, and he or she favored the juxtaposition of that subsequent to the boldness of “Queen.”
“That is the story of my life,” Latifah defined. “I believe that is the beauty of a lady. We could be sturdy however then we could be tender and sort and delicate.”
Travis Scott
Astroworld rapper Travis Scott, né Jacques Berman Webster II, shared the origin of his stage identify throughout a 2018 Tonight Present look. “My uncle is called Travis and Child Cudi is, like, one among my favourite artists of all time, and his actual identify is Scott Mescudi. And my uncle’s buddies name him Scott too, so it simply kinda labored out like that — my two superheroes.”
“I seemed as much as him and s—,” Scott instructed Grantland again in 2014 concerning the “favourite relative” who impressed his identify. “[He] was simply cool as f—. He at all times simply had swag. He performed golf and s—. He simply had swag. [He] was simply good. All the time made good selections, good enterprise selections.”
Submit Malone
The “I Had Some Assist” singer additionally talked about his self-chosen moniker whereas chatting with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Present in 2018. “I used to be, like, 14 and I had began, like, moving into producing and rapping and singing over my very own stuff. After which I wanted a reputation for my s—– mixtape,” he joked. “So I ran [Austin Post, my real name] by a random rap identify generator and I received Submit Malone.”
Cardi B
Throughout a 2017 interview on The Wendy Williams Present, host Wendy Williams requested the place the rapper, born Belcalis Almanzar, received her showbiz moniker. The singer revealed that it stems from alcohol.
“My sister’s identify is Hennessy, so everyone was once like ‘Bacardi’ to me. Then I shortened it to Cardi B. The ‘B’ stands for no matter, relying on the day…stunning or bully,” she mentioned, referring to the enduring rum and spirits model. “Nobody calls me Belcalis apart from my household, my mom and my daddy.”
Brie Larson
The Oscar winner, who was born Brianne Desaulniers, gave herself a brand new identify at age 9 — impressed by her favourite American Lady doll, Kirsten Larson. “I used to be sick of it, and because of this, I am, like, ‘I am altering my identify!’ ” she recalled on The Tonight Present in October 2015 of often having her surname mispronounced. ” ‘I am altering it to Larson, so Kirsten could be in our household.’ ”
Miley Cyrus
Though she’s been identified to followers and household as Miley Cyrus — a nickname that originated from her fixed smiling as a child — since earlier than starring on Hannah Montana, the singer-actress made it official in 2008 when she legally modified her identify from Future Hope to Miley Ray.
Whoopi Goldberg
She might have been born Caryn Elaine Johnson, however the EGOT recipient determined to vary it up when making an attempt to interrupt into the comedy world. “Should you get somewhat gassy, you have to let it go. So individuals used to say to me, ‘You are like a whoopee cushion.’ And that is the place the identify got here from,” The View cohost revealed to TIME in September 2011.
As for her final identify? Whoopi’s mom thought a Jewish surname would get her additional in Hollywood, so she changed Johnson with Goldberg.
Olivia Wilde
Olivia Wilde has journalism working in her veins: Her dad and mom, Andrew and Leslie Cockburn, are well-known worldwide journalists, who’ve produced documentaries and segments for 60 Minutes. She was born a Cockburn, however she modified her final identify to Wilde after taking part in Gwendolen in Oscar Wilde’s The Significance of Being Earnest in highschool.
Woman Gaga
“Gaga is that this stronger particular person a part of myself that I found being younger in New York — loving music, assembly with younger artists, working with musicians, with writers, finding out the scene and being concerned within the life-style,” the singer (born Stefani Germanotta) instructed Jamie Lee Curtis throughout an interview for Selection‘s “Actors on Actors” collection. “I began to name myself Gaga. [It] was the nickname I had at my greatest.”
Lorde
When flipping by books to search out her stage identify, the “Inexperienced Mild” crooner — whose beginning identify is Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor — was struck when she got here throughout “lord,” stating that she cherished its sound.
“I principally selected Lorde as a result of I wished a reputation that was actually sturdy and had this grandeur to it,” she instructed ABC Information Radio in March 2014. “I did not really feel that my beginning identify was something particular. I at all times favored the concept of getting, like, a one-named alias.”
Snoop Dogg
Whereas the rapper’s given identify is Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., he grew up with a household who known as him Snoopy, as a result of they thought he bore a resemblance to the animated beagle. Thus, Snoop Dogg (and Snoop Lion) was born.
John Legend
“John Legend is a nickname that some buddies began calling me, and it sort of grew into my stage identify,” the 12-time Grammy winner, born John Stephens, instructed MTV Information in 2008. ” ‘Legend’ is one thing that I by no means would have chosen for myself initially. It grew to the purpose the place extra individuals in my circle would know me by that identify than by my actual identify. I needed to decide.
“I used to be identical to, ‘You understand what? Let’s simply go for it. Individuals are going to concentrate and I will both reside as much as my identify or I am not,’ ” he continued. “My guess was on me making an attempt to reside as much as the identify.”
LL Cool J
When he was solely 16 years outdated, James Todd Smith started calling himself LL Cool J — which stood for “Women Love Cool James” — within the hopes of scoring dates, which did not come really easy at first.
In a 2008 interview with CBS’ Early Present, LL admitted that the women did not truly love cool James fairly but, saying, “It was simply wishful considering, simply hoping for one of the best.”
Iggy Azalea
For the Australian rapper — born Amethyst Amelia Kelly — her efficiency identify was impressed by her pup, Iggy. “I received a name-plate necklace made in his honor,” Azalea mentioned throughout a August 2014 interview for Vevo’s A.Okay.A. collection. “All people began to assume that my identify was Iggy so it sort of turned my nickname and I took it on board and began rapping with it.”
And whereas she virtually went ahead with one identify, the singer took her grandfather’s recommendation so as to add a surname, which led the artist to decide on Azalea. “That could be a road identify that my mother and household reside on … and it sounds very female and I assumed it will steadiness out Iggy being so masculine.”