Lorde Explains How She Came Up With Her Stage Name at Age 16

Lorde released her first album at such a young age, it’s a wonder that she chose such a powerful — and lasting — stage name. (If we did the same, we shiver to think of what our 16-year-old selves would select.)

We know that Lorde didn’t think her real name, Ella Yelich-O’Connor, would cut it in the music business. But how did she settle on Lorde?

“It was actually a really quick decision,” the now 20-year-old singer told 60 Minutes in an interview. “It’s quite funny, because I’m like, wow, if I’d known I would be having that name for the rest of my life I probably would have spent more than two days on it.”

Two days?!

“It was a good spontaneous choice, I think,” Lorde continued, “I’m quite proud of my 16-year-old self for not messing that one up because if I’d given myself a cool, weird, hip name that I hated now that would be super annoying. It was that nobility, aristocracy obsession that I had. I hit upon ‘Lord’ and loved the way it sounded, and then I was like, it would be quite cool to add an E to feminize it.”

Since her first hit was “Royals,” we shouldn’t be all that surprised. Still, we cannot help but be impressed that Lorde became Lorde at only 16 — and not “Kween” or “Princess” or “WildChild48.” (Some of us had embarrassing AIM names, ok?)

Watch the full clip below.