Lady Gaga's Real Name: Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta

Quick answer: Lady Gaga's real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. She was born on March 28, 1986, in New York City.

Real name and early life

Encyclopædia Britannica and Biography.com record her birth name as Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. Lady Gaga is a stage name. Germanotta is her Italian-American family surname, and Joanne, one of her middle names, honors her late aunt and later became the title of her 2016 album.

She grew up in Manhattan and studied briefly at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before leaving to pursue music.

Quick facts

• Real name: Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
• Known as: Lady Gaga
• Born: March 28, 1986, in New York City
• Known for: Singer
• Notable work: The Fame, The Fame Monster, Born This Way, Artpop
• Sources checked: Britannica, Biography.com

Career highlights

After signing with Interscope in 2007, she broke through with The Fame (2008) and The Fame Monster (2009). "Just Dance," "Poker Face," and "Bad Romance" were all certified Diamond. Born This Way (2011) sold over a million US copies in its first week. Later albums include Artpop (2013), the jazz duets album Cheek to Cheek with Tony Bennett (2014), Joanne (2016), Chromatica (2020), and Mayhem (2025).

As an actress she starred in American Horror Story: Hotel, A Star Is Born (2018), and House of Gucci (2021). "Shallow," from A Star Is Born, won her the Academy Award for best original song. With an estimated 124 million records sold, she is one of the best-selling artists of all time.

Name notes

Fans and family call her Stefani. The stage name Lady Gaga is widely tied to Queen's song "Radio Ga Ga," but because accounts of the name's origin vary, we note that link only as commonly reported. Fan sites often copy names from one another, so we checked this page against Britannica and Biography.com. Where sources disagree, we say so rather than guess. We also leave out middle names, nicknames, and origin stories that we couldn't confirm in a reliable source. A popular claim isn't enough to earn a place on this page if no encyclopedia, official record, or major news outlet backs it up.