2Pac's Real Name: Tupac Amaru Shakur (Born Lesane Parish Crooks)

Quick answer: 2Pac was the stage name of Tupac Amaru Shakur, who was born Lesane Parish Crooks on June 16, 1971, in New York City. His mother, Afeni Shakur, renamed him when he was about a year old. He became one of the defining rappers of the 1990s and died after a Las Vegas shooting in September 1996 (Britannica; Library of Congress).

Real name and early life

Britannica says he was born Lesane Crooks to Afeni Shakur (née Alice Faye Williams), a member of the Black Panther Party, who renamed him Tupac Amaru Shakur after the Peruvian revolutionary Túpac Amaru II. The Library of Congress name authority files him under "Shakur, Tupac, 1971-1996" and records "Crooks, Lesane Parish" as a variant, citing a coroner's report that lists "Shakur, Tupac A., AKA Lesane Parish Crooks." The same record logs the billing forms 2Pac, 2 Pac, and Two Pac.

His family moved often and at times struggled with homelessness. He acted as a child, appearing in a Harlem production of A Raisin in the Sun at about 12. After the family settled in Baltimore in 1986, he attended the Baltimore School for the Arts before a move to Marin City, California.

Career highlights

In 1990 he joined the Oakland group Digital Underground, then released his solo debut, 2Pacalypse Now, in 1991. Its songs on teen pregnancy and police brutality drew criticism from Vice President Dan Quayle. He moved into film with Juice (1992) and John Singleton's Poetic Justice (1993), opposite Janet Jackson, and scored radio hits such as "Keep Ya Head Up."

In November 1994 he was shot five times in New York. He was then convicted of sexual abuse and was in prison when Me Against the World came out in 1995. Paroled after eight months, he signed with Death Row Records. All Eyez on Me (1996) debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart, and Britannica reports it sold more than five million copies in its first year.

On September 7, 1996, he was shot near the Las Vegas Strip after a Mike Tyson fight. He died on September 13 at age 25. In 2023 police arrested Duane "Keffe D" Davis. On August 31, 2026, a Las Vegas jury convicted Davis of first-degree murder for orchestrating the killing, and in October 2026 he was sentenced to 40 years to life (AP).

Name notes for searchers

"2Pac" is a shortened stage spelling of Tupac. The birth name appears in two orders: "Lesane Parish Crooks" (coroner's report) and "Parish Lesane Crooks" (a publisher's record cited by LOC). Do not confuse him with his stepfather Mutulu Shakur or his mother Afeni Shakur.