Snoop Dogg Reveals the Suprisingly Wholesome Story Behind His Name

Snoop Dogg's Death Row Records Chain on The Voice Explained | NBC Insider

Snoop Dogg is one of the most recognizable people in the entertainment world. To say that he’s come a long way since releasing his debut album Doggystyle in 1993 would be an understatement. He went from being one of the biggest names in West Coast gangsta rap to carrying the Olympic torch in Paris. Most recently, he became one of the judges on season 26 of The Voice. Everyone knows Snoop Dogg for one thing or another but few know how he got his name.

Snoop Dogg isn’t shy about sharing the surprisingly wholesome origin behind his name. As one would imagine, it has come up in several interviews over the years. The basic story he tells has stayed the same since the early days of his career. However, some of the details have changed for one reason or another.

Snoop Dogg Shares the Origin of His Name

Snoop Dogg has gone through a couple of name changes over the years. First, he was Snoop Doggy Dogg. Then, he shortened it to its current form. For a time, he dipped his toes into reggae and called himself Snoop Lion. However, that might be a point of his career best left to the past.

The rapper revealed the origin of his name in an early interview on The Arsenio Hall Show shortly after releasing his debut album. “It comes from moms,” he said when the host asked where his stage name came from.

“My mama gave me that name,” he continued. “She used to call me Snoopy, I just put the Doggy Dogg in there to give it that added flavor so it could have a twist with it,” he explained. Then, Hall asked why his mom called him Snoopy. “I can’t tell. Probably because I used to look like a dog,” Snoop replied with a laugh.

In a more recent interview with Regis Philbin, Snoop Dogg told a slightly different story about the origin of his stage name. “When I was a kid in the ‘70s, I used to watch a show called Charlie Brown and there was a certain character on there that I used to love so much,” he recalled. “My mother said I started to look like him ‘cause I watched him so much. She named me Snoopy.”