Kim Kardashian recently confessed why she walked away from her original name before Keeping Up With the Kardashians debuted, revealing the unexpected moment that pushed her to shorten Kimberly to the now-iconic Kim.
Kim Kardashian reveals the reason she chose to let go of her original name
Kim Kardashian is setting the record straight about the moment she decided to stop going by her full name. The reality star and entrepreneur told Time that she made the switch from Kimberly to Kim right before Keeping Up With the Kardashians premiered in 2007. As she recalled, she had always used Kimberly until that point.
“I used to always go by Kimberly, until we signed on to do the reality show,” she said, adding that when she saw “Kimberly Kardashian” appear on-screen, she immediately felt it was too long. “When I looked at my chyron, Kimberly Kardashian, I said, ‘I think that’s so long for people to say. Let’s just shorten it to Kim.’”
Kim admitted the shift felt strange at first because her family and childhood friends had always called her by her full name. Still, the adjustment stuck and eventually became one of the most recognizable names in pop culture. Beyond her name change, Kim shared another major revelation: she was the driving force behind the Kardashian family’s leap into reality TV nearly two decades ago. According to the SKIMS founder, her siblings initially needed convincing.
“I mean, the whole reason we wanted to start our show was to bring attention to our DASH store – at least that’s how I was able to get my sisters to sign on,” she explained. “I let them know that it’ll bring such great promotion to our store. And they were in once they heard that.”
Keeping Up With the Kardashians ran from 2007 to 2021, following Kim, Kris Jenner, Kourtney, Khloé, Kendall, Kylie, and Rob across 20 seasons. Its massive success launched The Kardashians in various arenas where they continue to thrive.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.
