“For a long time, I was ‘Aym-ritt,’ which is disgusting.
It doesnt sound good…
It was only three years ago I started telling my friends and family that my name is ‘Um-rith.’
You pronounce it like aU,not anA.
All my life, Id been called ‘Aym-ritt.'”
“Because Im a newcomer, I dont have a lot of clout.
But at the same time, thats my small little form of self-love or activism.
But at least were starting to normalize being South Asian.
“Growing up, I was doing a lot of acting and stuff.
So I always used both names throughout my life, according to where I was living.”
And that resonated with me.”
“It’s a South Indian name, and it’s a long name.
Just this girl, Mindy.'”
It was something that I had a lot of mixed feelings about.
But my parents didn’t mind.
I talked to them about it.
And then, I ended up shortening it.
They agreed to try out Casey Reeves, but Keanu couldn’t do it.
For over 30 years, he’s used that as his stage name.
“I go, ‘Then what do you call me?’
She goes, ‘I call you Jo ko.
That is your nickname.
My nickname is my Jo.
How fucking sweet is that?”
“Obviously, Tamil names are super long.
My entire full name Maitreyi Ramakrishnan I have 20 letters…
The actor replied, “KJ is short for Keneti James, which is a Samoan name.
I’m named after my father.”
Her biological fatherleftwhen she was a few years old, and her mother remarried.
Nicole’s stepfather adopted her, and she took his last name.
She toldThe Guardian, “It’s a crazy name, Scherzinger.
Auditions did increase, and I was amazed.
Because I just imagine someone sitting there, thinking about all these weird names, especially the water names.
But anyways, I just came up with it when I was 16 and thought it was really funny.
And then, I eventually adopted it.”
“So, he spelled it so extra.
He spelled it in the most extra way ever.
But then, no one knows how to spell it.
So, you know, it came back to bite me in the ass.”
He later explained onPatriot Actthat peoplepressuredhim to change his name when he first got into comedy.
So, he spent two months introducing himself at open mics as Sean.
But I’m like, ‘Dude, fuck that.’
Your name’s your name.”
“Bruno is after Bruno Sammartino, who was this big, fat wrestler.
“I can never hide my Asianness.
But nor would I want to.
I’ve been married for five years, and I won’t even change my last name!
Ill never do it.
I love my husband [actor Bryan Greenberg], but its just my identity.
Im never gonna change it.”
