Katy Perry's real name isn't too far from her current stage name, Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson. On her first album, she went by the name Katy Hudson, naming her debut album after herself in 2001. However, the Christian rock album didn't do so well, since the record label went bankrupt around the same time of the album's release, according to her unofficial biography. Thus, Perry went back to the drawing board when it came to her stage name.

The singer was afraid her name was too similar to well-known actress Kate Hudson, so she decided to change her last name first. She decided to change her last name to Perry, after her mother's maiden name (via Hollywood). For a while, she went by Katheryn Perry before switching permanently to Katy Perry (via Cheat Sheet). And the rest is history. 

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