© Getty Images

The Weeknd -

The Weeknd told W Magazine, "It’s getting to a place and a time where I’m getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter," adding that he won't stop making music, "But I still want to kill The Weeknd."

His reason was: "As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say." For a little insight as to why he might feel that way, one might look to the origin of his stage name. The artist once shared with fans on Reddit that he dropped out of high school and left home when he was 17, convincing XO crew member Lamar to do the same. "We grabbed our mattresses from our parents threw it in our friends s****y van and left one weekend and never came back home." He added that "The Weekend" was going to be the title of his first mixtape, but confessed, "I hated my name at the time though so I tried it as a stage name. It sounded cool." His return to his given name might then be perceived as Tesfaye no longer running, and instead coming home to his origins and his family name. 

© Getty Images

The Weeknd - He dropped the "e" in weekend because there was already a band with that name.

© Reuters

Lil Nas X -

Lil Nas X's name origin is very on-brand for him, as he revealed on 'The Tonight Show' that it first started from his "internet alias" which was 'Nas,' but he thought it was funny that every new rapper's name started with "Lil," so he did the same, and he added the X later. It's fitting for someone whose fame rocketed on the internet and with so much humor, plus, he told Jimmy Fallon, the story for his real name is even better. 

© Getty Images

Lil Nas X -

The young rapper's real name is Montero, which his mother named him because she wanted the Mitsubishi Montero car. Since she couldn't get the car, she named her son Montero instead!

© Getty Images

Lady Gaga - Originally Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, Lady Gaga received her stage name from music producer Rob Fusari.

© Getty Images

Lady Gaga - When he was helping her with an album, he compared her sound to Queen's 1984 song 'Radio Ga-Ga,' giving birth to Lady Gaga.

© Getty Images

Jamie Foxx - Born Eric Marlon Bishop, he changed his first name to Jamie when doing stand-up comedy because women were chosen to go first and "Jamie" seemed to be a gender-ambiguous name.

© Getty Images

Jamie Foxx - His last name, "Foxx," was in tribute to comedian Redd Foxx.

© Getty Images

Katy Perry - The singer's real name is Katy Hudson.

© Getty Images

Katy Perry - The reason she changed her name is pretty simple: she shared it with actress Kate Hudson.

© Getty Images

Bruno Mars - Peter Gene Hernandez was nicknamed Bruno by his dad because as a chunky kid, he resembled pro wrestler Bruno Sammartino.

© Getty Images

Bruno Mars - He changed his last name after thinking he'd get mistaken as wanting to make Latin records when his passion was funk and R&B.

© Getty Images

The Rock - The American-Canadian actor's first wrestling name was actually Rocky Maivia, which came from a combination of his father and grandfather's wrestling names.

© Getty Images 

The Rock - Eventually, it was shortened to The Rock. His birth name is Dwayne Douglas Johnson.

© Getty Images 

Whoopi Goldberg - Born Caryn Johnson, the actress-comedian had a tendency to pass gas when she was younger, and people allegedly said she was like a whoopee cushion.

© Getty Images

Whoopi Goldberg - She kept her first name as Whoopi but adopted a more serious last name after her mom told her no one would take her serious if she changed her name to "Whoopi Cushion."

© Getty Images

Shay Mitchell - This pretty little liar's name is actually Shannon.

© Getty Images 

Shay Mitchell - She is a big fan of J.Lo, so her friends would call her "Shay Lo" after the Latin artist.

© Getty Images 

MC Hammer - Singer Stanley Kirk Burrell got his nickname from a childhood job working as a batboy for an athletic club.

© Getty Images

MC Hammer - They called him "Little Hammer." It changed to "MC Hammer" when he picked up the mic and began singing.

© Getty Images

Miley Cyrus - Destiny Hope Cyrus legally changed her name to Miley Cyrus when she was 15.

© Getty Images

Miley Cyrus - Because she was always smiling as a kid, people called her "Smiley," which later became Miley.

© Getty Images

Snoop Dogg - Rapper Calvin Broadus was nicknamed "Snoopy" as a child.

© Getty Images

Snoop Dogg - His parents thought he looked like the famous cartoon dog.

© Getty Images

Jackie Chan - The martial artist's real first name is Kong-sang, but when working at an Australian construction site, a coworker couldn't pronounce his name, calling him "Little Jack" instead.

© Getty Images

Jackie Chan - The name ultimately evolved into "Jackie" and stayed that way.

© Getty Images

Portia de Rossi - De Rossi's real name is Amanda Lee Rogers. She changed her name at age 15.

© Getty Images

Stevie Wonder - The singer's given name is Stevland Morris.

© Getty Images

Stevie Wonder - People called him "the little boy wonder" because of his talent when he showed up on the scene at age 10.

© Getty Images

Olivia Wilde - Born Olivia Jane Cockburn, the actress's mother suggested that she change her name when she first started her acting career.

© Getty Images

Olivia Wilde - She was a huge fan of writer Oscar Wilde and was inspired after starring in 'The Importance of Being Earnest.'

© Getty Images

LL Cool J - A semi-acronym for "Ladies Love Cool James," the rapper's real name is James Todd Smith.

© Getty Images

LL Cool J - The nickname came about when he was 16 and joking around with a friend about how to attract the ladies.

© Getty Images

Harry Houdini - Born Ehrich Weiss, "Harry" was the Americanized version of his first name.

© Getty Images

Harry Houdini - His last name was inspired by his idol, French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin.

© Getty Images

Drake - Drake is actually Aubrey Graham's middle name!

© Getty Images 

Alessia Cara - Alessia Cara's actual last name is Caracciolo, of Italian origin. Now it's Cara for short.

© Getty Images 

deadmau5 - The Canadian electronic producer got his stage name after finding a dead mouse in his computer!

© Getty Images 

K'naan - This Canadian poet and musician was born Keinan Abdi Warsame. His stage name means "traveler" in Somalian.

© Getty Images 

Joan Crawford - Producer Louis B. Mayer made the actress change her name from Lucille LeSueur because he thought her last name sounded too much like "Le Sewer."

© Getty Images

Joan Crawford - MGM publicity held a contest to find her a new name, and she became Joan Crawford.

© Getty Images

PARTYNEXTDOOR - This Canadian musician took his stage name from a FL Studio audio filter setting.

© Getty Images 

IISuperwomanII - This famous Canadian YouTuber, originally Lilly Saini Singh, got her username Superwoman even before she launched her channel.

© Getty Images 

IISuperwomanII - She had a ring with the Superwoman "S" on it and has been the Superwoman everyone knows and loves ever since.

© Getty Images 

Bif Naked - Bif actually comes from her first name, Beth. Someone couldn't pronounce Beth and so everyone just began calling her Bif. Naked came later when she was in college and her band needed a punk rock name.

© Getty Images 

Kardinal Offishall - Hip-hop superstar Jason D. Harrow used to go by KoolAid. He then changed it to Kardinal Offishall after 17th-century French politician Cardinal Richelieu.

© Getty Images 

Lights - This singer was born Valerie Anne Poxleitner, but legally changed her name to Lights at the age of 18. The name actually stems from her last name Poxleitner.

© Getty Images 

Massari - R&B singer Massari's stage name means "money" in Lebanese Arabic and comes from his birth name Sari.

© Reuters

k-os - Pronounced like "chaos," Kevin Brereton's stage name is actually an acronym that originally stood for "Kevin's Original Sound," which he then changed to stand for "Knowledge of Self."

© Reuters

Classified - This rapper got his stage name by skimming the classified ads, according to Gig City.

© Reuters

Shad - Shad is actually short for Shadrach Kabango, his birth name.

© Reuters

Moka Only - Daniel Denton, member of hip-hop group Swollen Members (second from the right), got his nickname because he drank a lot of coffee!

© Reuters

Tory Lanez - A friend actually nicknamed this rapper, born Daystar Peterson, Lanez because he used to run into the roads to play without checking for oncoming traffic.

© Getty Images 

SonReal - Vancouver rapper Aaron Hoffman reportedly wanted a moniker that made him sound like he was from New York.

© Getty Images 

Roy Wood$ -

Denzel Spencer enlisted the help of his high school peers when picking out his stage name. Roy Wood$ ended up being the most popular.

See also: Discover the most famous musical alter egos!

© Getty Images