All Our Favorite Famous Black Celebs And Their Surprisingly Unique Real Names
Out of all the gems and hilarious moments that came out of Keke Palmer’s sit-down with Oprah Winfrey for her “Baby, This Is Keke Palmer” podcast—one of the most notable ones was Palmer’s discovery of the former daytime TV show host’s legal name.
While most of her audience already knew it, Winfrey explained that her birth certificate actually reads “Orpah” instead of “Oprah,” but as she got older, people kept mispronouncing it, and so she eventually just let it ride. Palmer’s shock at the reveal had her utterly gagged, and she couldn’t believe what she learned.
However, that made us think about the array of other Black celebs whose names aren’t what they seem. From rappers to actors, keep reading to find out the shocking, corny, and interesting names of your fave celebs!
Plies
We won’t lie, finding out rapper Plies’ real name is Algernod Lanier Washington threw us for a loop. For as cool and fly and hilarious as he is, this combination of names was the last thing we expected. But hey, what can you do?
Related: Bet You Didn’t Know These Black Celebrities Were Besties
Snoop Dogg
When it comes to the world of hip-hop—cool is the name of the game. And your name introduces you before people even meet you, so you’ve got to make sure it stands for who you are. And now, given what we know about Snoop Dogg, it makes sense why he would choose to go by that instead of his legal name: Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. This doesn’t make us think one of the kings of West Coast rap.
Whoopi Goldberg
Author’s note: I was today years old when I learned Whoopi Goldberg is not actually Whoopic Goldberg. The thought never crossed my mind! I guess Caryn Elaine Johnson just didn’t have the same ring to it, huh?
21 Savage
If you’re going to make it in the rap game, it’s paramount that you have a cool stage name that sets the tone for the vibe you’re about to bring to people. And we’ve got to admit, given 21 Savage’s discography, the name fits pretty well. Or, at least, it fits better than his real name: Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph.
Doja Cat
Of course, Doja Cat would be quite the interesting name for a person, so we knew that couldn’t be the rapper’s real name. But we should’ve expected her legal name to have multiple parts given her South African heritage. So if you didn’t know before today, allow us to reintroduce you to: Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini!
Wiz Khalifa
Wiz Khalifa’s stage name, while partially given to him by his grandfather and the fact that he was a young “wiz” in school, is very cool. But Cameron Jibril Thomaz doesn’t sound too bad either. It’s like Wiz is Cameron’s slightly cooler older brother!
The Weeknd
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye. That’s his real name, folks. Color us surprised because we definitely didn’t see this coming!
Saweetie
We knew rapper Saweetie’s first name was Diamonté. But similar to another rapper with a lot of names and syllables in her name (looking at you Cardi B), Saweetie’s government name is quite a mouthful. Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper. Wow!
Future
You know, for someone who raps as cool as Future does, he sure does have a rather uncool name. Nayvadius Wilburn? Imagine seeing that name in the credits of “March Madness” or “Diamonds Dancing?” No shade, but it would be a hard pass.
Shaboozey
Sure, we should have expected Shaboozey’s real name not to be Shaboozey. But what we didn’t expect was for his first name to be Collins. Collins Obinna Chibueze, to be exact.
Cardi B
Cardi B. has been open about her multi-syllable name, and honestly, that’s another reason why we love her. She knows her legal name, Belcalis Marlenas Almenzar, is a mouthful to pronounce. But instead of getting mad at fans when they say that, she joins in on the fun. She truly is the people’s rapper!
Jamie Foxx
Author’s note: The day I learned that Jamie Foxx’s name was not, in fact, Jamie Foxx and was actually Eric Bishop-I was shocked! And I was slightly disappointed because the new name is actually super cool. But now the whole world knows him as Jamie, so I guess that’s a win-win!
Bruno Mars
We don’t know if we would’ve picked the name Bruno Mars, but it sure as hell does sound a lot cooler than his real name, Peter Gene Hernandez. You know what, everybody wants to stand out, right? This was the perfect distraction.
