government name

Definition: (noun phrase) legal name (usually birth name)

Example: Rapper Big Man Loc was, for obvious reasons, reluctant to tell people his government name was Fifi DeVille.

Quote:

“Well my name is Earl, that’s my government name so there’s the “E” and cats was always calling me “E.” The 40 on there was because I would usually drink about 6 to 7 fortys per day. Easily.”

- Rapper E-40

Ah, what’s in a name? The October issue of Vanity Fair features a cover story on Tom Cruise’s mystery baby, Suri. According to the article, Tom and his fiancée Katie Holmes chose it from a book of baby names and it means ‘red rose’ in Persian.

Admittedly, it is not the world’s worst name. Personally, I would prefer it to Apple (Gwyneth Paltrow’s daughter), Dweezil (Frank Zappa’s son) or Zowie (David Bowie’s son, who now goes by the more normal Duncan Jones).

But those are strange names. Government names are usually the boring ones! The term is used by rappers, who often have more than one stage name. For example, P. Diddy (government name: Sean Combs) used to be Puff Daddy. But after a recent UK lawsuit filed by Diddy (government name: Richard Dearlove) he’ll need to change his name again, at least in Britain.

By the way, a 40 is a 40 ounce (1.18 liter) bottle of beer, in case you were wondering. E-40 clearly has a large capacity for alcohol.

A. C. Kemp | September 14, 2006