Keke Palmer is an undeniable icon, but lots of fans don’t realize that Keke isn’t her actual first name. Now, fans are focused on a resurfaced interview where she told the world she’s ready to go back to her roots.
In a 2022 video for Glamour, Palmer was asked why she prefers to go by Keke instead of her legal first name, Lauren.
“This is a good question, because I actually don’t prefer to go by Keke instead of Lauren,” Palmer said. “Keke was my family name, and the only people that called me Keke were people in my family.”
The choice to go by Keke professionally was her manager’s idea, she said. “One day, my manager at that time heard my mom call me Keke because I wasn’t listening,” Palmer explained. “She was like, ‘Keke. Keke!’ And he said, ‘That should be your stage name.’”
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“It went from being just something that my family called me to being something that the whole world called me,” she concluded. “And more than anything, I would love to go back to Lauren.”
Glamour reposted the clip to TikTok in honor of Palmer’s current star turn in One of Them Days, and fans didn’t need to be told twice. In the video’s comments section, they quickly made the switch from Keke to Lauren.
“Baby! That’s Lauren Palmer!” one fan wrote, updating the famous meme.
“Now if I just so happen to see her and call her Lauren she better not look at me like I’m crazy 😭,” another commenter wrote.
“She has such a lauren attitude. this tracks,” noted a third.
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Other commenters commemorated with being called a family nickname by stranger. “Understood… it makes me cringe when ppl outside my family call me my family nickname lol,” one user wrote.
“Non family calling you a family name is actually the worst 😩,” agreed another.
Others, upon learning Palmer’s legal name, couldn’t help but be reminded of David Lynch’s series Twin Peaks, which famously centered on the mystery of teenager Laura Palmer’s disappearance. Laura Palmer … Lauren Palmer … the similarity is uncanny. If going by Lauren really is in Palmer’s future, we hope she’ll acknowledge the connection sometime soon. “If [she] doesn’t do a twin peaks tribute photoshoot thing as Laura Palmer then what’s the point??!!” one fan commented.
One of Them Days is now playing in theaters. Check out the trailer below.
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