Following on from the saga of learning about his kid's names, some fans are now only just realizing that Will Smith’s real name isn't actually William.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star, 54, goes by Will Smith, and many people would assume that Will is short for the name William, but this is not the case for the star. (Even though, in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, 'Will' is actually short for William Smith.)
In real life, however, Smith was actually born Willard Carroll Smith Jr. - named after his father, also called Willard Carroll Smith, Sr.
There are apparently a couple of reasons why Smith decided to shorten his name to Will. Firstly, Market Research Telecast suggests that Smith wanted his name to be shorter so audiences could easily remember it. "Will Smith" - two punchy syllables.
But the name Will Smith came from his role in the show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which premiered in 1990. As previously mentioned, the actor’s character in the series is also called Will Smith.
On his Snapchat show, Will At Home, Smith revealed it had been co-star Alfonso Riberio, who played Carlton Banks, who suggested he be known as Will Smith.
Per CheatSheet, Smith said: “It was such a deep insight that you had. You said, ‘Because people are going to call you that for the rest of your life.’”
Prior to the show, the rapper was known by the moniker The Fresh Prince, alongside his musical collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff.
Here’s what some Twitter users had to say about the revelation.
One Twitter user said: “I thought Will smith real [sic] name was William. You mean to tell me this whole time his name has been WILLARD.”
Eagle-eyed fans of the TV show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, pointed out that actor Will Smith and the character Will Smith have different full names.
“Not the same pattern but in Fresh Prince Will’s name is William Smith but in real life his name is Willard Smith lol,” another Twitter user explained.
A third Twitter user saw the funny side to the name drama: “It’s fun when people have a real common normal nickname but the whole time their full name isn’t what you assumed. Like how Will Smith is Willard and not William.”
Adding more confusion to the name situation, Smith’s first child - whom he shares with his first wife Sheree Zampino - was also named Willard.
The King Richard star’s first son, who is publicly known as Trey Smith, is actually called Willard Carroll Smith III. He was born in 1992, but the two had a rocky relationship to begin with.
The actor was absent from his first son’s early life, but Smith admitted on wife Jada Pinkett Smith's Facebook series, Red Table Talk, per People: “As soon as Trey was ready, he came looking for his father.”
Smith also has two more kids - Jaden Smith and Willow Smith - who this time he did not name directly after himself, but slight variations from both his and Pinkett Smith’s names instead.
So as a lesson to us all, the nickname Will does not always call from the full name of William - it could be Willard instead.
