Once a celebrity becomes one of the most famous people in the world, people start to explain how well known they are by calling them “household names”. While that may be a silly way to describe how famous someone is, it does a great job of pointing out the fact that it is really meaningful when people learn a celebrity’s name.Given how big of a deal it is when the world learns what to call a celebrity, it always is amazing when it turns out that stars changed their names. In some cases, the story behind a star adopting a new name is hilarious but sometimes the reasons for celebrities going by something else are sad. With that in mind, it begs an obvious question about Lil Nas X, did he adopt that identity because he is ashamed of the name he was given at birth?
The Origin Of Lil Nas X’s Stage Name
As anyone who has followed rap and hip hop over the years will no doubt already know, it is very common for performers from those genres to adopt stage names. After all, people like Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, The Notorious B.I.G., and Eminem weren’t given those names at birth.
Just like all of those legends, Lil Nas X was known by a completely different name until he became a performer.
Ever since Lil Nas X rose to fame, he has proven time and time again that he isn’t afraid to ruffle a lot of feathers. Whether it was bending genres with the country rap song “Old Town Road” or the eye-popping outfits that he often wears in public, Lil Nas X paves his own road at every turn.
In fact, Lil Nas X is so comfortable with upsetting people that the rapper and his fans celebrated when his music video for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” got over one million dislikes on YouTube.
Considering that Lil Nas X always seems to be true to himself, it may be surprising to some people that he took a stage name at all. When Lil Nas X appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2021, he explained the backstory behind his stage name.
Based on that story, it seems like Lil Nas X intended his stage name to be all about fun.
"When I started doing music, I was like, 'I want to have fun with this. And every new rapper's name is Lil, Lil, Lil. 'What if I was Lil Nas? That'd be funny.' So I was like, 'Alright, bet. I'll be Lil Nas.' And I added the X later on."
How Does Lil Nas X Feel About His Stage Name?
Even though Lil Nas X’s career still seems to be in its infancy, the talented rapper has already released a slew of hit songs. As a result, lots of major companies want to be associated with the performer including Fortnite who added a Lil Nas X skin in 2021.
Despite all of that, most people don’t know what Lil Nas X’s real name is.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Lil Nas X was given the name Montero Lamar Hill at birth. During his aforementioned appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Lil Nas X described the story behind his real name.
Before explaining the origin of his name, Lil Nas X called the story "slightly embarrassing, but not embarrassing."
"So my mom wanted the car, the [Mitsubishi] Montero, and she never got one ... So yeah, I'm named after a car." Once you learn about the origin of Lil Nas X’s birth name, the only question that remains is how the rapper feels about being named Montero.
The first clue that Lil Nas X has absolutely no problem with his real name stems from that same Jimmy Fallon interview. After all, the rapper told Fallon “You can call me Nas or Montero”.
While Lil Nas X’s willingness to have a famous talk show host call him Montero on national television is very strong evidence that he likes his real name, his music seems to be even more revealing.
Even though Lil Nas X first rose to fame in 2018, it wasn’t until 2021 that he actually released his first full album. As a result, the rapper had to know all eyes would be on him when the album was released.
If Lil Nas X was ashamed of his real name, he certainly wouldn’t have wanted to draw attention to it at that time. As a result, the fact that the rapper’s first album is titled “Montero”, which is his birth name, says everything. On top of that, Lil Nas X’s debut single off that album was titled “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)”.
