It’s a common practice for celebrities to go by stage names or pseudonyms, if you may, that differ from the moniker given to them at birth, but not every stage name is as obvious. There are a ton of reasons why a celebrity would want to change their name on their way to making it big, even if the stage name they end up choosing isn’t particularly glamorous.

Our EDM stars are not too much behind when it comes to using pseudonyms for themselves. While some want their branding to match their sound, others have changed their names to be easier for the audience to recollect and remember. Below are some of our EDM star pseudo-names, and their real names.

Calvin Harris, real name Adam Richard Wiles – the DJ revealed he said that he decided to change his name to exploit the racial ambiguity of his stage name.
Zedd, real name Anton Zaslavski
The Chainsmokers, real names Andrew Taggart & Alex Pall
Martin Garrix, real name Martijn Gerard Garritsen
Avicii, real name Tim Bergling – in an interview the star revealed ‘”Avici is the lowest level of Buddhist hell. The extra ‘i’ was because Avici was already taken on MySpace
Alesso, real name Alessandro Lindblad
Hardwell, real name Robert van Corput
Kaskade, real name Ryan Raddon
Afrojack, real name Nick van de Wall
DJ Snake, real name William Sami Etienne Grigahcine
Tiësto, real name Tijs Michiel Verwest