Sunny Leone reveals story behind her stage name: ‘Sunny is my brother’s nickname, my mom hated that I…’

Actor Sunny Leone’s real name is Karenjit Kaur Vohra. In a recent interview, she explained the reason why she changed her name. While her first name ‘Sunny’ belongs to her brother, Sandeep Singh, whose nickname is Sunny, there’s a story behind her last name, ‘Leone’, too. Also read: Sunny Leone on working in adult film industry

Sunny Leone was born in Canada to an Indian Sikh family. She moved to India some years ago. In a recent interview, the actor revealed how she picked Sunny as her name, and told a magazine to pick her last name, Leone.

How Sunny Leone chose her stage name

“I was in the US doing an interview for a magazine and they said, ‘What do you want your name to be?’ I couldn’t think of anything at that moment. I was working at a tax and retirement firm and I worked for the HR department, accounting department, and another agent. I helped with all these things, and then I was also a receptionist. So, I was doing the interview in this place and I knew I had to get off the phone soon and get back to work, because I would get caught. And they were like ‘what would you like your name to be’ and I said, ‘Use Sunny as my first name, and then you can pick the last name’.”

Sunny Leone’s mom hated her name

Further speaking about her choice, she said, “Sunny is my brother’s nickname. His name is Sandeep Singh, we call him Sunny. My mom hated that I named myself Sunny. She said, ‘Out of all the names, that’s the one you pick?’ I was like, yeah, it’s just what came to my mind… And then the magazine picked the last name and I just kept it.”

Sunny’s film career

After working for some years in the adult film industry in the US, she made her acting debut with Pooja Bhatt’s thriller Jism 2 in 2012 after her appearance on Bigg Boss 5. She later appeared in films such as Jackpot, Ragini MMS 2, Ek Paheli Leela and Mastizaade. She recently attended Cannes Film Festival 2023 for the world premiere of her Anurag Kashyap film Kennedy.