15 Musical Artists Reveal How They Picked Their Stage Names

• 01

  Post Malone

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  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.

• 02

  Doja Cat

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  Doja Cat named herself after two things she loves — weed (aka doja) and cats.

• 03

  Sting

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  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.

• 04

  Alicia Keys

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  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.

• 05

  Cardi B

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  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.

• 06

  Chumbawamba member Alice Nutter

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  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.

• 07

  Machine Gun Kelly

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  His real name is Colson Baker. He adopted the stage name Machine Gun Kelly from George "Machine Gun Kelly' Barnes, the infamous prohibition gangster. 

• 08

  Snoop Dogg

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  Snoop Dogg's mom nicknamed him after Snoopy because of how much he loved the Peanuts character growing up.

• 09

  Lady Gaga

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  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.

• 10

  Saweetie

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  Saweetie's stage name was originally her Myspace display name, which came from a nickname her grandma gave her.

• 11

  Lizzo

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  Lizzo's name was inspired by Jay Z's song 'Izzo.' 

• 12

  Eminem

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  When he was 14, Eminem started rapping under the name "M&M" which were his initials (Marshall Mathers), and it evolved into "Eminem."

• 13

  Vanilla Ice

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   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.

• 14

  Iggy Azalea

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  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.

• 15

  John Legend

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  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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