- Many singers have changed their names in order to break into the music industry.
- But you probably aren’t familiar with how they ended up with their current monikers.
- Singers like Halsey and Frank Ocean have said they didn’t like their birth names and decided to change them.
- Others, like Lizzo and Miley, say their professional names are based off of childhood nicknames.
- Here are the stories of how 30 musicians acquired their stage names.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Lady Gaga — Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
In the October 2013 issue of Elle magazine the singer said she changed her name because Stefani is “a perpetually tortured artist” that she can’t be in public.
Cardi B. — Belcalis Almanzar
In 2016, the singer tweeted that people called her Bacardi growing up because her sister’s name is Hennessy.
“It was my Instagram name, Bacardi, Bacardi B.,” the singer told Jimmy Fallon in 2017. She eventually shortened it.
“But for some reason, my Instagram kept getting deleted, and you know what, I think it was Bacardi that had something to do with it,” she added. “So I just shortened it to Cardi B.”
Lil Nas X — Montero Lamar Hill
"It's been my internet alias for a minute," said the artist in a 2019 interview with Beats 1, according to HotNewHipHop.com.
"The X wasn't included at first. It was just Lil Nas," he continued. "It was Lil Nas because when I first started rapping I wasn't as serious so it was like, 'Okay, every rapper's name is starting with Lil lately.' So I kind of got stuck with it."
He said he added the "X" when he was more serious.
"It would stand for the amount of years, I felt, until I'm at the status where I'm considered legendary," said the rapper of the meaning behind the "X."
Halsey — Ashley Frangipane
"I didn't like being Ashley Frangipane," Halsey told Rolling Stone in 2016. "It was a person I thought was weak and silly and sad."
Halsey is an anagram of her first name. She came up with the name after seeing a subway stop in Brooklyn for Halsey Street.
The Weeknd — Abel Makkonen Tesfaye
Makkonen is The Weeknd's father's name, who, according to Rolling Stone, left when he was just 1 or 2 years old.
In a 2016 Reddit AMA, the singer said he disliked his name, and, after dropping out of school, and leaving home one weekend, he tried out the moniker.
"It sounded cool. I took out the 'e' because there was already a Canadian band named the weekend (copyright issues)," he said.
Billie Eilish — Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell
Eilish is actually one of the singer's middle names. Her actor parents wanted to name her Eilish after watching a documentary about conjoined Irish twins, Katie and Eilish Holton.
After the singer's grandfather, Bill, died, her parents decided to name her after him.
The middle name "Pirate" comes from her brother, Finneas, who gave her the nickname when they were young. It stuck.
Miley Cyrus — Destiny Hope Cyrus
Cyrus' father Billy Ray gave her the nickname "Smiley" to match her cheery persona.
Over the years, the nickname became shortened to Miley. Cyrus legally changed her name in 2008.
Jason Derulo — Jason Desrouleaux
The Haitian-American's last name is a phonetic spelling of his birth name, Desrouleaux. In 2018, the singer told Elvis Duran he believes he'll eventually just go by his last name.
"It's inevitable," said Derulo. "It's all about when it's gonna happen. I think it's actually happening naturally. People will just call me Derulo, but it's kind of been through my entire life."
Derulo mentioned by his senior year in high school that everyone was calling him by his last name.
Lizzo — Melissa Jefferson
Jefferson's nickname came after she formed a rap group with two classmates at age 14.
According to an interview with The Cut, her friends shortened her first name to give her the nickname Lissa, but then changed it to Lizzo because Jay-Z's "Izzo" was "popular at the time."
Read more: 5 things you didn't know about Lizzo
Katy Perry — Kathryn (Katy) Hudson
Before she was a chart-topping singer, Perry was producing Christian music under her birth name, Kathryn Hudson.
She released the gospel record "Katy Hudson" under the former label Red Hill Records before adopting her mother's maiden name to avoid confusion with actress Kate Hudson.
Elton John — Reginald Kenneth Dwight
The singer changed his name to Elton Hercules John. In the movie "Rocketman," John takes his name from one of his friends and "Beatles" singer John Lennon after spotting a photo on the wall during a record label meeting.
That's not completely accurate. In a 1991 interview with Rowan Atkinson, the singer explained how he came up with the first name.
"I used to be in a band, and I wanted to become a singer in my own right, and I wanted to choose a name," said John. "And the saxophone player in the band was called Elton, so I chose that name."
He said he never considered having the name the other way around. As for his last name, according to TheWrap, the singer explained his stage name in an interview for a box set of 1990's "To Be Continued..."
"I was in Bluesology, and we were coming back from a Long John Baldry gig somewhere, and we got a bus from London airport to London and someone said, 'We've made it now, so what are you going to call yourself?'" said John.
Drake — Aubrey Drake Graham
When he played wheelchair-bound Jimmy Brooks on the Canadian TV show "Degrassi," the actor went by the name Aubrey Graham. But when the Toronto native switched his career focus to rapping in 2009 after signing a recording contract with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, he started using one name only: Drake.
Rihanna — Robyn Rihanna Fenty
The Barbados singer uses her middle name on stage but prefers when family and friends call her by her first name.
"I get kind of numb to hearing Rihanna, Rihanna, Rihanna," the singer told Rolling Stone in 2011. "When I hear Robyn, I pay attention."
Frank Ocean — Christopher Lonny Breaux
"It was the most empowering s--- I did in 2010, for sure. I went on LegalZoom and changed my f---ing name," Ocean told Complex in 2011.
"It just felt cool. None of us are our names," he continued. "If you don't like your name then change your name. I'm only a few steps into the process, so I probably shouldn't even be talking about this, but by the beginning of summer I'll be straight. I'll be boarding planes as Christopher Francis Ocean."
Ocean filed documents to change his name in 2014. The name change was approved over a year later in April 2015.
Iggy Azalea — Amethyst Amelia Kelly
The first part of the rapper's stage name came from her dog Iggy Pop. After he was bitten by a snake and got better, the singer had a name-plate necklace made.
"Everybody started to think that my name was Iggy so it kind of became my nickname and I took it on board and started rapping with it," said Azalea on Vevo's series "A.K.A."
Her grandfather suggested she needed a second name and she decided on a street name she had lived on.
"It sounds very feminine and I thought it would balance out Iggy being so masculine," said Azalea.
John Legend — John Rogers Stephens
Chrissy Teigen's singer husband's name was given to him by his friend and poet J. Ivy who said he thought his music sounded like "one of the [old-school] legends," according to Intelius.
"It was bold and I knew people would be like 'He'd better be good if he's going to call himself John Legend,'" Legend told The New York Times in 2006. ''So I said, 'Let me go out and make the best music I can and maybe, after my career is over, I've lived up to the name.'"'
Nicki Minaj — Onika Tanya Maraj
The Trinidadian-born rapper's name is a combination of her first and last names. According to Billboard, Minaj went by nicknames like "Cookie" and "Harajuku Barbie" early on in her career before landing on Minaj, a name she's not crazy about.
"Somebody changed my name. One of the first production deals I signed, the guy wanted my name to be Minaj and I fought him tooth and nail. But he convinced me," Minaj told the Guardian in 2012. "I've always hated it."
Similar to Rihanna, the singer prefers going by "whatever you were calling me four years ago."
"I don't like it when my family or close friends call me Nicki Minaj," she added. "To me, I'm not Nicki Minaj when I'm with them."
G-Eazy — Gerald Earl Gillum
On an episode of Vevo's "A.K.A.," G-Eazy said he didn't like his first name.
"It felt like an old man's name and that's probably because I was named after my grandpa," said the rapper.
Instead, he insisted he go by his first and middle initials, G.E., growing up. It grew into G-Eazy when he started rapping, but he said he wouldn't mind transitioning to G.E. or just G at some point.
Bruno Mars — Peter Gene Hernandez
Mars changed his Puerto Rican name "to avoid being stereotyped" into performing solely Latin and Spanish music, according to GQ.
Where did the name come from? Bruno was the nickname his father gave him at the age of 2 years old because he reminded him of his favorite wrestler Bruno Sammartino.
The singer told rap-up.com the last name was to give him an edge.
"I felt like I didn't have no pizzazz, and a lot of girls say I'm out of this world, so I was like I guess I'm from Mars," he said.
P!nk — Alecia Beth Moore
"It was a nickname when I was a kid," the singer told "Good Morning America" in 2016.
Pink said there are "lots and lots" of reasons for her moniker, including some inappropriate ones.
"'Reservoir Dogs' was one of the reasons," she added referencing Steve Buscemi's character, who goes by the name Mr. Pink in the film.
Eminem — Marshall Bruce Mathers III
The rapper's nickname is a combination of his first and last initials, phonetically spelled out. Originally, the artist went by M&M before changing it to its current spelling to likely avoid any legal issues with the candy company.
T-Pain — Faheem Rasheed Najm
T-Pain is short for "Tallahassee Pain," reflective of the city where the singer was born and raised in Florida.
According to a 2007 interview with News.com, his stage name references the hardship he faced growing up.
"It's the same pain in any country life," he said. "Nobody being seen, nobody being heard, not being a major aspect of the game. If you are trying to get into the music industry, it's hard to get somebody to come to Tallahassee and listen. There's not much money in Tallahassee. Not many people can leave Tallahassee because they don't have the means."
The singer said something similar in 2013 to NPR.
"The pain in T-Pain, basically, is about getting out of Tallahassee and being a better person, a better artist, a more well-known entity," said the singer. "It was very painful trying to get out of that city and do better things."
Ne-Yo — Schaffer Chimere Smith Jr.
After writing a song, the singer was told in passing he was like the "Neo" of the music industry.
"It's like you see music the way Neo sees the Matrix," Ne-Yo recalled being told by producer Deon "Big D" Evans on an episode of Vevo's "A.K.A."
At first, the singer tried to push back because he didn't want that to catch on and become a nickname. He eventually relented.
"I couldn't escape it," he said. "From that day forth, I was Ne-Yo."
Lana Del Rey — Elizabeth Woolridge Grant
When Lana Del Rey started her singing career she went by the name Lizzy Grant. You can still find early interviews and performances of her on YouTube with the name.
After her first album failed, The Guardian reported that her stage name, Lana, was chosen for her by management. In 2011, the singer told Vogue Lana Del Rey was inspired by her time in Miami.
"I wanted a name I could shape the music towards," she told Vogue. "I was going to Miami quite a lot at the time, speaking a lot of Spanish with my friends from Cuba - Lana Del Rey reminded us of the glamour of the seaside. It sounded gorgeous coming off the tip of the tongue."
Macklemore — Benjamin Haggerty
Haggerty came up with the name Macklemore for a high school art project where he had to come up with the name of a superhero. He released his first EP, "Open Your Eyes," in 2000 under the name Professor Macklemore.
Lorde — Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O'Connor
Lorde's lengthy name comes from her Irish and Croatian descent. When Lorde's hanging out with her friends she goes by Ella. The singer told Interview Magazine Lorde's just a theatrical stage name that's not supposed to have any religious connotations. It was inspired by royalty.
"When I was trying to come up with a stage name, I thought 'Lord' was super rad, but really masculine - ever since I was a little kid, I have been really into royals and aristocracy," Lorde told Interview in 2013. "So to make Lord more feminine, I just put an 'e' on the end! Some people think it's religious, but it's not."
Ellie Goulding — Elena Jane Goulding
Katy Perry shared the singer's real first name in a sweet photo at Goulding's wedding to art dealer Casper Jopling. Perry referred to her friend as Elena Jopling, suggesting she's changing her last name.
Snoop Dogg — Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr.
According to "Snoop Dogg - Biography of Calvin Cordozar Broadus," the rapper's mother joked he looked like the classic "Peanuts" dog while growing up.
SZA — Solana Imani Rowe
Raised orthodox Muslim, SZA is an acronym of her own name from the Supreme Alphabet.
"You have rulers like sovereignty over one's self and the world around you. S [in] the supreme alphabet stands for savior but that didn't sit right with me so I switched it to either sovereign or savior however you feel," SZA told Complex in 2013.
Bono — Paul David Hewson
The U2 frontman and humanitarian known as Bono wasn't actually born with just one name. Before he became world-famous, the Irish musician was known by the name Paul David Hewson. But his wife still reminds Bono of his roots, going by the name Ali Hewson.
The name Bono was originally a nickname, short for "Bono Vox" meaning "good voice" in Latin, said to be given by his friend Gavin Friday.