Celebs With Unique Origin Stories To Their Names

By Joseph Longo | Jan 26 2024

1. Rachel Zegler was named after Rachel from Friends.

"That is a real fact, and nobody ever believes me," Rachel said while appearing on The Tonight Show in November of last year. "Because they think there's no way I'm young enough to be named after Friends, but I am. My mom...they were going to name me Catherine, but my older sister's Jaqueline. And they thought that might be too confusing for babies to figure out. My mom loved the way it sounded on Friends for Jennifer Aniston, and then that was my name."

ADVERTISEMENT

2. Taylor Swift was named after James Taylor.

"It’s hugely flattering and was a delightful surprise when she told me that," James Taylor told Stereogum in 2015. "We did a benefit together, I think it was focused on teenage pregnancy, before Taylor really took off. But she was playing guitar and singing her songs and I knew how remarkable she was. She told me that her mom and dad had been really, deeply into my music and I got a real kick out of the fact that she’d been named after me. Obviously it wasn’t her choice, it was her mom and dad, but nonetheless a great connection I think."

3. Selena Gomez was named after Selena Quintanilla.

"I wanted to check in and say 'Hi' and that I have been binge-watching the Selena series on Netflix. It's so good," Gomez reportedly said in an Instagram story in 2020, mentioning the Netflix show Selena: The Series. "She's such an inspiration. I was named after her and it's unbelievable."