Lady Gaga’s real name exposed and what Gaga really means

Lady Gaga burst onto the music scene in 2008 with her chart-topping debut single, Just Dance. The thumping club banger instantly rose to UK number one, capturing the world’s attention after a successful first-week sales of 1.1 million copies. The singer then left many intrigued with her captivating performances alongside her eccentric and often controversial outfits.

Now after almost two decades, five albums, three films and 170 million estimated records sold, Gaga has long cemented her position as a household name. However, what remains a mystery is how she acquired the unforgettable moniker. Gaga was born , Cynthia and Joseph, in New York City.

In 2010, the 14-time Grammy winner spoke to Oprah Winfrey about her rise to fame and the attributed her stage name to the 1984 Queen song, Radio Ga Ga.

She went on to describe how “Gaga” was “just a nickname [her] friends had for [her] in New York and [her producer], and it just kind of stuck”.

At the time, the artist told Oprah to call her “Gaga,” as she thought it “felt weird” when people called her “Lady”.

Later that year, the singer told Flybe Magazine a similar story and said that her former boyfriend and producer, Rob Fusari was the one who first started to call her Gaga.

“He started to call me Gaga when I’d come into the studio,” she said.

“I decided that I’d been playing under my real name for so long I wanted to reinvent myself, so I said, ‘What about Lady Gaga, because Gaga is sort of crazy and Lady has such connotations.’”

The hitmaker and Rob’s relationship ended in 2008, before the release of her album Fame which went on to spend four weeks at number one.

The producer, who was credited for his work on the album, then filed a £23.5 million lawsuit claiming she owed him money from song royalties, alleging that he had come up with her stage name and got her a record deal.

However, he later dropped the charges against Gaga in 2010.