Nick Cannon's Real Name: Nicholas Scott Cannon

Quick answer: The entertainer is known professionally as Nick Cannon. Biography.com, Encyclopedia.com, and BlackPast independently give the name Nicholas Scott Cannon and date his birth to October 8, 1980, in San Diego, California (Biography.com; Encyclopedia.com; BlackPast).

Real name and early life

He is known professionally as Nick Cannon. Biography.com says Nicholas Scott Cannon was born on October 8, 1980, in San Diego, California, to James Cannon, a televangelist, and Beth Hackett, an accountant, and that he grew up shuttling between California and North Carolina. BlackPast independently says Nicholas "Nick" Scott Cannon was born on October 8, 1980, in San Diego to James Cannon and Beth Hackett. Encyclopedia.com also gives the full name Nicholas Scott Cannon and, in more than one entry on the same page, the birth date October 8, 1980, in San Diego; one reprinted sketch on that page instead uses October 17, 1980, a conflict recorded here rather than used in the title data. This page follows the October 8 date independently attested by Biography.com, BlackPast, and other Encyclopedia.com listings on the same page.

Career highlights

Biography.com says his break came warming up audiences on Nickelodeon's All That, and that he later hosted The Nick Cannon Show and the MTV improv series Nick Cannon Presents Wild 'N Out, which it dates from 2005 to 2007, with a later return in 2013 on MTV2. BlackPast independently names All That (1999 to 2000), The Nick Cannon Show (2002 and 2003), and Wild 'N Out, which it dates from 2007 to 2009 before a return in 2013, a conflict in those run dates that is recorded here. Biography.com says he hosted America's Got Talent from 2009 to 2017 and began hosting The Masked Singer in 2019. BlackPast independently dates the America's Got Talent hosting run to 2009 to 2016 and also dates The Masked Singer to 2019. Both sources, and Encyclopedia.com's film credits in the same set, name the 2002 film Drumline among his screen roles; Biography.com and BlackPast also list Men in Black II (2002).

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Nick Cannon or Nicholas Scott Cannon are looking for the same San Diego-born entertainer. Independent sources support the name used in the title.