Carmen Electra’s request to legally change her name granted

Electra filed to change her name in December 2023

Carmen Electra is now legally Carmen Electra.

The Baywatch star first filed to make her stage name her legal name back in December and, according to court documents obtained by TMZ on Tuesday 27 February, the request was granted to replace her birth name, Tara Leigh Patrick, with the new name.

According to the outlet, Electra filed for the name change on 29 December 2023 because she wanted a fresh start in the new year. When she started working in the entertainment industry, Electra initially went by her birth name: Tara Leigh Patrick. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she first auditioned for an all-girl group that Prince was assembling in the 1990s with her given name.

The 51-year-old actress later claimed that it was Prince, who produced her solo music album, who gave her the stage name. During an appearance on Oprah: Where Are They Now? in 2014, she recalled Prince telling her: “You’re not Tara. You’re Carmen.” From then, she went on to embrace the name.

During an interview with The Yo Show! in 2014, she once again said that after she auditioned for Prince’s group, he told her: “You look like Electra. That should be your name.”

According to the Good Burger star, she wasn’t initially convinced that the name was the right fit for her. “At first I thought it sounded kinda like a superhero type of name, which actually it is,” she said. “So I was hesitant.”

However, she said that the name then “kind of grew” on her, before noting that she’s “Electra now”.

When she first began her acting career, she continued to use the name Electra. For example, when she joined Baywatch in 1998 as Lani McKenzie, she was known by her stage name.

When Prince died in 2016, Electra issued a statement to mourn the loss of her “mentor”, with another mention of how he named her.

“I was so shocked and heartbroken to hear about the loss of my mentor, Prince,” she said in the statement to US Weekly at the time. “The world has lost a truly incredible spirit and musical genius. What a blessing it is to be one of the chosen ones who had the chance to work so closely with him. He gave me my name, he believed in me, and he has inspired an entire generation. I will always love him.”

Electra first earned her fame playing Lani McKenzie on the hit drama Baywatch. After its 11-season run, Electra continued to act in films such as the Scary Movie franchise and Meet the Spartans.

More recently, Electra started an OnlyFans account, telling People in September 2023 that she enjoyed the creativity that came with it.

“I’m so happy because I decided to be my own boss when it comes to the content,” she told the outlet at the time. “I get to feel the freedom and creativity of doing whatever I want to do, bouncing back and forth with the fans and their requests."

She also said that Prince was the person to encourage her to build a self-brand which helped when it came to navigating her OnlyFans account.

“He was a very intense person when it came to working. He was always in the studio,” she said. “Just seeing that level of dedication, I was just taking in everything he was doing. And he gave us a sense of freedom creatively.”

“It helped me know what I want now. I have my own direction, I come up with my own creative ideas. I have my own path.”