15 Musical Artists Reveal How They Picked Their Stage Names
We would have never guessed that some of our favorite artists got their famous names from Myspace or a random rap generator. The reasoning behind the stage names they choose ranged from sweetly sentimental to absolutely wild and random. Some stars fought hard with their managers on a name and other's were gifted cute nicknames from their mommies. We've got everyone from Eminem to Doja Cat and everyone in between. Continue reading this list to see why your favorite artist chose the name they rock now.
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1
Post Malone
Post Malone put his real name into a random rap name generator when he was 14, and he's stuck with the results ever since.
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2
Doja Cat
Doja Cat named herself after two things she loves — weed (aka doja) and cats.
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3
Sting
Sting often wore a black and yellow striped sweater during his Phoenix Jazzmen days, so one of his band members nicknamed him after a bumblebee.
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4
Alicia Keys
Initially, Alicia Keys wanted to go by "Alicia Wilde," but her mother put a stop to that and helped her decide on "Keys" (like a piano) instead.
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5
Cardi B
Cardi B's nickname growing up was Bacardi because her sister's name is Hennessy, but she shortened it after her Instagram account kept getting deleted.
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6
Chumbawamba member Alice Nutter
The punk musician turned writer was born Anne Holden. She legally changed her name to Alice Nutter who was a woman accused of witchcraft and hanged in 1612.
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7
Machine Gun Kelly
His real name is Colson Baker. He adopted the stage name Machine Gun Kelly from George "Machine Gun Kelly' Barnes, the infamous prohibition gangster.
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8
Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg's mom nicknamed him after Snoopy because of how much he loved the Peanuts character growing up.
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9
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga's producer Rob Fusari nicknamed her "Gaga" after the Queen song "Radio Ga Ga," and she added "Lady" because of its regal connotations.
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10
Saweetie
Saweetie's stage name was originally her Myspace display name, which came from a nickname her grandma gave her.
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11
Lizzo
Lizzo's name was inspired by Jay Z's song 'Izzo.'
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12
Eminem
When he was 14, Eminem started rapping under the name "M&M" which were his initials (Marshall Mathers), and it evolved into "Eminem."
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13
Vanilla Ice
Vanilla Ice uses a nickname he earned as a teenager because of his pale complexion and a dance move he invented that mimics sliding on ice.
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14
Iggy Azalea
And finally, Iggy Azalea used to wear a necklace with her dog's name on it, and she decided to use it as her stage name when people kept asking if the name on the necklace was hers.
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15
John Legend
John Legend took on his stage name after the nickname became more well-known in his social circle than his real name. His friends basically decided it for him.
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