Celebrities will often time shorten their real names in order to make it easier for people to remember their otherwise lengthy names. Similar to a pen name, these celebrity names are completely different than what we expected. Ahead, 5 celebrities who have ditched their birth names and adapted shorter, less “complicated” versions of their names.
Jelena Noura Hadid AKA Gigi Hadid
Gigi Hadid is one of the most popular faces in the fashion industry, landing Forbe’s Highest Paid Models List in 2017. Her real name is actually Jelena Noura Hadid. Yolanda Hadid, Gigi’s mother, nicknamed her ‘Gigi’ and it stuck.
Ashley Nicolette Frangiapane AKA Halsey
The New Jersey native singer Halsey, is actually named Ashley Nicolette Frangiapane. The Without Me singer goes by the name Halsey because it’s a moniker of her real name, according to IMDB. It’s also a street in Brooklyn where she would spend a lot of time during her teenage years.
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta AKA Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga’s real name is actually Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. A producer began to call the Million Reasons singer ‘Gaga’ and even filed a lawsuit against Germanotta for $30 million, claiming he was responsible for concocting her stage name. He dropped the lawsuit and we continue to call her Lady Gaga.
Shannon Ashley Mitchell AKA Shay Mitchell
According to an interview with Glamour, Mitchell reveals the reason she goes by Shay Mitchell is because the Canadian-born actress was obsessed with Jennifer Lopez, AKA J.Lo. Classmates of hers knew this and called her ‘Shay-Lo’. Eventually she dropped the ‘Lo’ and Shay stuck.
Karen Lucille Hale AKA Lucy Hale
This Pretty Little Liars star, Lucy Hale, was originally named Karen Lucille Hale after her grandmother. In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Hale glides over the topic of her real name being Karen and refers to Karen as her ‘alter-ego’.