Baywatch star Carmen Electra has legally filed to change her name.
According to court documents submitted on 9 January and obtained by Today.com, the model is requesting to change her given name to her professional name, Carmen Electra.
Today.com also noted that in the court documents, 26 February 2024 is listed as the date of a hearing for the actor’s request.
The Independent has contacted a representative for Electra for comment.
When she started working in the entertainment industry, Electra initially went by her birth name: Tara Leigh Patrick. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she first auditioned for an all-girl group that Prince was assembling in the 1990s’ with her given name.
The 51-year-old later claimed that it was Prince, who produced her solo music album, who gave her the stage name. During an appearance on Oprah: Where Are They Now? in 2014, she recalled Prince telling her: “You’re not Tara. You’re Carmen.” From there, she went on to embrace the name.
During an interview with The Yo Show! in 2014, she once again said that after she auditioned for Prince’s group, he told her: “You look like Electra. That should be your name.”
According to the Good Burger star, she wasn’t initially convinced that the name was the right fit for her. “At first I thought it sounded kinda like a superhero type of name, which actually it is,” she said. “So I was hesitant.”
However, she said that the name then “kind of grew” on her, before noting that she’s “Electra now”.
When she first began her acting career, she continued to use the name Electra. For example, when she joined Baywatch in 1998 as Lani McKenzie, she was known by her stage name.
When Prince died in 2016, Electra issued a statement to mourn the loss of her “mentor”, with another mention of how he named her.
“I was so shocked and heartbroken to hear about the loss of my mentor, Prince,” she said in the statement to US Weekly at the time. “The world has lost a truly incredible spirit and musical genius. What a blessing it is to be one of the chosen ones who had the chance to work so closely with him. He gave me my name, he believed in me, and he has inspired an entire generation. I will always love him.”
