Addison Rae is now going by a new stage name.
The singer and TikTok star, who just released her self-titled debut album on June 6, has dropped the name “Rae” from her professional moniker and is now known simply as Addison.
“I said it in an interview, I was just like, ‘Oh, I think I’ve grown past being called Addison Rae,’” Addison told host Quenlin Blackwell during a June 8 appearance on Blackwell’s “Feeding Starving Celebrities” YouTube series.
“Then the album being named ‘Addison’ kind of was a tie-in for that,” she added.
The “Diet Pepsi” singer, 24, said there is also a more practical reason behind her decision. “I just am tired of also signing Addison Rae. It’s really long. I just would rather sign Addison,” she said, laughing. “And then I was like, ‘Yeah, it just makes more sense because, like, it’s going back to the roots really.’”
Still, Addison, who was born Addison Rae Easterling, said she won’t be upset if longtime friends and fans still think of her as Addison Rae.
“Whoever knows me as Addison Rae and knew me as Addison Rae will always know me as that,” she said.
Addison joins a growing list of celebrities who have opted to tweak their professional names during the past year.
Just last month, Angelina Jolie’s 19-year-old daughter Shiloh Jolie — who’d already dropped her father Brad Pitt’s surname from her own in 2024 — choreographed an original dance piece under the name Shi Joli.
Former “Teen Mom 2” star Kailyn Lowry’s 15-year-old son, who was formerly known as Isaac Elliott Rivera, announced last week on his mom’s “Barely Famous” podcast that he was now going by his middle name, Elliott.
Meanwhile, Malia Obama, the 27-year-old daughter of former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, has been using the professional name Malia Ann as a writer and director in Hollywood.
Michelle Obama opened up about her older daughter dropping the Obama name professionally when she recently appeared on Kate and Oliver Hudson’s “Sibling Revelry” podcast.
The former first lady said it was natural for young adults — especially those from famous families — to want to “push away” from their family name at some point.
“You’re trying to distinguish yourself,” she explained, adding, “It is very important for my kids to feel like they’ve earned what they are getting in the world, and they don’t want people to assume that they don’t work hard, that they’re just naturally handed things,” she added. “
“They’re very sensitive to that. They want to be their own people.”
“Malia, who started in film, and it being her first project, she took off her last name, and we were like, ‘They’re still going to know it’s you, Malia,’” she added with a laugh. “But we respected the fact that she’s trying to make her way.”
