How G-Eazy's Real Name Inspired His Rap Pseudonym Will Surprise You

You probably know G-Eazy as a hip-hop superstar who has songs that easily get stuck in your head, like "No Limit," featuring A$AP Rocky and Cardi B, "Me, Myself and I," featuring Bebe Rexha, and "Him & I," featuring his former (but possibly also current) flame, Halsey. But surely, G-Eazy's real name can't actually be G-Eazy. While a lot of people have super cool parents, I can't imagine his parents being cool enough to put that on a birth certificate. So, what is G-Eazy's real name? I promise that his stage name is a lot easier to say than his real one, which is actually sort of a tongue twister.

His real name is — wait for it — Gerald Earl Gillum, which to me is sort of difficult to say ten times fast. I think it's because the end of his first name sounds so similar to the beginning of his middle name, and then he's got the alliteration going on with his first and last name. There's a lot going on, so it makes sense that he decided to go with the stage name G-Eazy.

So now that we know how his real name, how did that transfer over to his stage name? He revealed the hilarious reason behind how the name G-Eazy was coined during a chat with Interview magazine back in 2012. "It came about 10 years ago now. Times were different then," he said, adding, "The name probably sounded cool to me when I was 13, [like G-Unit]. The climate has definitely changed since: the fashion trends, the style of music I listen to."

Clearly, 50 Cent had a lot of influence on the young rapper.

And, in an interview with London Live back in 2014, he digs a bit deeper into the reasoning (and is also seemingly too embarrassed to admit his middle name on camera, which I find kind of hilariously adorable):

The name G-Eazy comes from my name — I went by my initials when I was a kid. My real name is Gerald, I went by "G.E." because my middle name starts with "E," and I don't know, G.E. just kind of naturally grew into G-Eazy as a nickname. And when it was, you know, time for a rap name, making these songs and writing raps and making beats, I needed a name and it just fit, it just worked.

Even though he goes by G-Eazy on stage, he noted in the interview that he thinks his true first name can work, too. "I think Gerald can work in rap," he said. "I think I'm just going to pull a P-Diddy and rename myself a bunch of times in my career. I'll go from G-Eazy, then I'll go to Gerald, and then, by the end of my career, I'm just going to be G," he said jokingly.

You know what? I don't hate it.

So, even though we're all speculating his relationship status with singer Halsey, maybe we should be focusing more on G-Eazy on his own. He's clearly got talent...and a pretty great backstory to his stage name, don't ya think?