Melania Trump's Real Name: Melanija Knavs

Quick answer: Melania Trump was born Melanija Knavs. She later used the German-style spelling Melania Knauss as a model and took the surname Trump after marrying Donald Trump in 2005. She was born on April 26, 1970, in Novo Mesto, then Yugoslavia (now Slovenia).

Real name and early life

Encyclopædia Britannica gives original name Melanija Knavs, née form Melania Knauss; Biography.com profiles match (Britannica; Biography.com). She grew up in Sevnica, briefly attended the University of Ljubljana, then modeled in Slovenia, Milan, and Paris before moving to New York in 1996 with Paolo Zampolli’s agency. Magazine covers and the 2000 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue raised her profile. She met Donald Trump in 1998; they married January 22, 2005, in Palm Beach. Their son, Barron William Trump, was born in 2006, the year she became a U.S. citizen.

Career highlights

As first lady (2017–21) she launched the Be Best children’s initiative focused in part on cyberbullying, delayed her full-time White House move until mid-2017 for her son’s school year, and generally kept a lower public profile than many predecessors. After leaving the White House she published the memoir Melania (2024) and returned as first lady when Donald Trump was inaugurated again in January 2025. Britannica notes she is only the second foreign-born U.S. first lady after Louisa Adams. Earlier business lines included QVC jewelry and caviar-based skin care alongside occasional modeling. Professionally and socially she is known as Melania Trump; the documented birth name is Melanija Knavs.

She spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention (a speech later criticized for echoing Michelle Obama’s wording) and again appeared at the 2024 convention without delivering a major address.

Name notes for searchers

Knavs → Knauss reflects common transliteration/Germanization in modeling credits; Trump is a married surname. Prefer Britannica and Biography.com over tabloid spellings. Wikipedia is useful only as a pointer after primary citations.