Models That Have Changed Their Names

[Mariann]

I think this thread is interesting. I am sure Natasha Poly's real name is Natalia and her surname has been shortened according to Wikipedia. Also Izabel Goulart was called Maria. Looks like she has chosen not to use her first name. Kate Moss shortened her name from Katherine. Elle McPherson's real name is Eleanor Nancy Gow. You never even know some other models could have changed their names and you don't even know about their birth names .

Also have you ever noticed a lot of the agencies only use first names or use the first initial of the models' surname when listing them on their books?

 

[Mariann]

Nataliya Pirozhkova --> Nataliya Piro

It's always nice to see shortened names when they are hard to pronounce

 

[fluxxx]

Irina Shayk is also shortened her name from Irina Shaykhlislamova..not a big change and persoanly I prefer Shayk, still unique and also easier to pronounce

 

[Mariann]

Irina Shayk is also shortened her name from Irina Shaykhlislamova..not a big change and persoanly I prefer Shayk, still unique and also easier to pronounce

Oh yeah I forgot about her shortening her surname. It seems to be the Russian models who do that considering Russian last names are hard to pronounce some times.

 

[jmrmartinho]

Newcomer Kolfinna Kristófersdóttir didnt short her last name, interesting

 

[Mariann]

Maybe she might later on in her career.

 

[ChristyLeReveur]

Katryn Kruger: Catherina Elizabeth Kruger??

 

[kaji]

The nickname craze is starting to get a bit annoying. There are so many newer models with kind of pointless nicknames: like Mila "Mijo" Mihaljcic, Antonina "Tonya" Vasylchenko, Zenia "Zen" Sevastyanova... and well of course Monika "Jac" Jagaciak, they just seem a bit pretentious because their names aren't that difficult to pronounce or write to begin with and there aren't many popular models with those names either.. And people even write the names with the nickname in the middle, so it actually just makes the name longer.

 

[Pricciao]

that's easier for people to remember who you are, remember a face with name like "Jac" is so much easier than with "Monika".

 

[shanhuq]

You guys need to remember that Slavic names just come with these shorten versions. So changing your name from Antonina to Tonya or Anna to Ania, ect is not changing your name. It's just using the informal name they've grown up with.

 

[anlabe32]

Don't know if it's mentioned somewhere already but Anabela Belikova's real name is Anastasija Belikava. When she started out there were too many Anastasija's (and shortened version Nastya) so her agent asked her to pick another name, so she picked the first parts from her first name and surname. Don't know why Belikava was changed to Belikova though.
I think Anabela is one of the best names in the industry.

 

[modelista]

Bump

I think Riley Montana used to be called Ebony Riley.. Kinda wish she hadn't changed it cuz Ebony sounded so much more sensual, regal & lux

 

[orchidee]

^I agree completely. Such a beautiful name.

I could be wrong, but maybe she's using a different name now because you only really see black girls with the name Ebony. So maybe she/her agency/someone suggested going by a different name to prevent potentially prejudiced clients from rejecting her based on her name alone--perhaps some designers would consider Ebony to be a "ghetto" name

 

[Aizanara]

Gigi Hadid's real name is Jelena Hadid.

 

[petit fours]

Kendra Spears = Salwa

 

[modelista]

Tami Williams real name is Shaekagale Shanicece Williams

 

[anonid]

When I was starting there was another model called Tamara, from Russia I think. I chose the name Malaika myself.

Malaika Firth's first name is Tamara.
source: theguardian

 

[Ivanovaju]

Odette Pavlova = Victoria (or Vika)
Lia Pavlova = Yulia
Nastya Sten = Nastya Stepanova

 

[Valentine27]

^Thank you for the info.
I was wondering if Odette was her real first name. It doesn't sound Russian at all, more like an old granny French name. Anyone knows why they changed it to Odette?

 

[sixtdaily]

Willow Hand = Alexandra Holland