Kim Kardashian Reveals Name Change and Reality Show Origins

Kim Kardashian has shared that she and her family changed their last name shortly before they gained fame from their reality TV show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

“I always called myself Kimberly until I signed on for a reality show. When I saw ‘Kimberly Kardashian,’ I thought it was just too long for people. So, I said, ‘Let’s just shorten it to Kim,'” the 45-year-old TV personality explained in a recent interview. It’s interesting because everyone from high school friends to my dad always called me Kimberly.

Kardashian, known for incorporating her name into various brands, also took responsibility for convincing her family to take part in the reality series.

“I think I was the one who definitely pushed for it. This has been a dream for me since watching MTV’s ‘The Real World’ with my best friend,” she recalled. “I told her, ‘That’s what I want to do,’ and she responded, ‘I’ll be your manager.’ We were only about 11 at the time. I said, ‘When you turn 18, you need to make a tape for The Real World.’

With her father working in the music industry, Kardashian mentioned, “She suggested, ‘Oh, I’ll have my dad send a song to someone at MTV.’ We had a complete plan.” While her mom, Kris Jenner, eventually took on the managerial role, Kardashian ended up working with the producers of the series.

She admitted that she was able to convince her sisters, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian, and their mother that participating in the show was a way to promote their then-newly launched Dash clothing store.

“The whole point of starting the show was to attract attention to the Dash store, and that certainly got my sisters to sign on. I told them it would be a great promotion for our business, and they were on board right away,” she said.

After a successful 14-year run, Keeping Up with the Kardashians ended in 2021, but the family has since made the transition to Hulu’s new series, The Kardashians.