Lorde reveals why she chose her stage name

Now that Lorde’s back with an NZ tour and a killer new album, Melodrama, everyone's obsessed with her.

The Kiwi singer, whose real name is Ella Yelich-O’Connor, recently appeared on 60 Minutes, and was asked about how she came up with the stage name ‘Lorde.’

“It was actually a really quick decision,” she said. “Which is quite funny, because I’m like, ‘Wow, if I’d known I would be having that name for the rest of my life, I probably would have spent more than two days on it.’”

“It was a good spontaneous choice, I think. I’m quite proud of my 16-year-old self for not messing that one up, ’cos if I’d given myself a cool, weird, hip name I hated now, that would be super annoying,” she continued. “Again, it’s that nobility, aristocracy obsession that I had. I hit upon ‘Lord’ and loved the way it sounded, and then I was like, ‘It would be quite cool to add an ‘e’ to feminise it.’”

The 20-year-old had also previously admitted to ABC News Radio: "I much prefer being called Ella. I basically chose Lorde because I wanted a name that was really strong and had this grandeur to it. I didn't feel that my birth name was anything special. I always liked the idea of having, like, a one-named alias."

But that doesn't mean the singer will get angry if you do call her Lorde. "That's fine, too," she said, laughing.