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The Daily Dish Vanderpump Rules

What Are the Real Names of These Bravolebs?

Find out the given names of #PumpRules Jax Taylor, #BelowDeck's Captain Lee, model Gigi Hadid, and more.

By Jocelyn Vena

We may love our Bravolebs unconditionally, but certain folks didn't feel the same way about their given names. So before fame and fortune came calling, they swapped their names for brand-new ones. From a handful of SURvers to a couple of the Shahs, we're taking a look at the folks who have changed their names.

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NeNe Leakes

Before she was blooping her way through The Real Housewives of Atlanta, NeNe was a young Georgia girl named Linnethia Monique Leakes.

Jax Taylor 

Before his Vanderpump Rules days, you could call this SURver and Michigan native by his birth name: Jason Cauchi.

Gigi Hadid

Gigi came into this world as Jelena Noura Hadid, and we all have her The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills mom Yolanda Foster to thank for taking an already cool name and making it even cooler. "In first or second grade, there was a girl named Helena and it got confusing with the teacher who had to call out our names, and so the teacher asked my mom, 'If I needed to call Jelena a nickname, what would it be?'" Gigi recalled. "And my mom was like, 'I call her Gigi sometimes,' and the name stuck."  (Side note: Her sister Bella's full name is Isabella Khair Hadid.)

Lala

While we think Lala is the perfect nickname for the Vanderpump Rules bad girl, the actress/SUR hostess is actually named Lauryn Kent

Captain Lee Rosbach

Shocker of the century: Captain Lee was actually born Harold Rosbach. Yet somewhere along the way, the Below Deck boss decided that he didn't want to use his first name and chose to hit the high seas as Captain Lee. 

The Rachel Zoe Project fashionista was technically born Rachel Rosenzweig, before shortening it to "Zoe."

Stassi Schroeder

 

Nobody loves birthdays more than Stassi, but the New Orleans native decided that she didn't like her full name, Nastassia Bianca Schroeder, when she opted to just go by Stassi.

Scheana Marie

 

We first met the SURver as Scheana Marie, but it turns out that she didn't always have two first names. She was born with the name Scheana Marie Jancan, and, of course, has changed her last name to Shay after marrying her musician hubby in 2014.

Retta

 

No, the New Jersey native didn't always just have one name like Madonna or Cher. Before her TV career took off, the Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce actress' real name was Marietta Sirleaf.

Erika Jayne

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills singer is quick to remind any of us that Erika Jayne is just her pop persona. In real life, you can call her Erika Girardi. And if you've ever wondered where that first name came from, well, it's an homage to All My Children bad girl Erica Kane.

Rocky Dakota 

We all know Below Deck's mermaid of the high seas as Rocky, but the curly-haired stew wasn't born with that feisty name. Instead, it's her nickname, short for Raquel Dakota Bartlow. 

MJ 

Shahs of Sunset star's full name is Mercedes Javid, but she opts for a shorter MJ. 

GG

Her Shahs pal did something similar, shortening Golnesa Gharachedaghi to the simple GG. 

Rihanna

 

The singer and Styled to Rock host was actually born Robyn Rihanna Fenty. But the more surprising thing here is the fact that we've also been saying Rihanna wrong all these years — we'll let her explain. 

Speaking of names, watch Kandi Burruss break down how she got her unique moniker, below.

How Did Kandi Get Her Name?
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