Burlesque Bible now has its very own website to come up with a burlesque name, or at least some suggestions to get you started.
We have thousands of combinations available and we keep on updating the website with some new and fresh ideas.
We’ve also found a very interesting article, giving tips on what to do or what to avoid…
OK, I’m going to say this first,do not use:
Kitten, Kitty, Vixen, Honey, Von, Lux or Deluxe, Lola, de Ville, Violette, Scarlette, Pinky, Femme or Belle.
Why, you may ask? Because these names have been taken a million times over! Seriously, this is like calling yourself Jennifer. In fact, you might as well use Jennifer, as that will be unique to the burlesque community.
And, nothing is more shattering than coming to perform and having an audience member say “Oh, I thought you were that other gal!”
And, honestly, you don’t need to tread the same ground; you should want to have your own, individual personality.
‘Porn Name’
This has always been the tried and true: the name of your pet and the first street you lived on. (In my case it would be Natasha Tacoma.)
Makes and Models of Cars
Sure, de Ville is out of the running (since you’d never want to be compared to the legendary Kitten de Ville), but look at all these choices: Continental, Coupe, SuperSport, Zephyr, Valiant, Corvair, Mustang, Nova, Futura, Mercury, Rocket 88, Metropolitan, Citrone, Fiat.
Cocktails and Booze
Yes, there are names besides Martini: Campari, Negroni, Gin Fizz, Dubonet, etc. Did you know there is a cocktail called Poussé Café? How about a play on the name Frenet Branca, a digestif from the late 1800’s.
Gemstones
Pearl, Ruby, Emerald, Opal, Garnet, Toapz…you get the idea.
Slang
These are slang for ‘woman’: Baby, Bearcat, Skirt, Hoofer, Broad, Bimbo, Chassis, Dame, Doll, Dollybird, Gold-Digger, Moll, Twist…
Words in another language
Star in French is etoile; fire in Spanish is fuego. There are several websites that offer basic word translation when googled. Do be sure that you are pronouncing it properly!
Get a Drag Queen to Name You!
Those gals have such great names like Amanda Wreckinwith, Sugar Placebo, Chinchilla Carcoat or Maria Von Mantrapp.
Watch Old Movies, Read Books!
Do you know there is a Lolita Haze and Dolores Haze? Know where those came from? That’s the name of the girl in LOLITA. What about Eve Harrington, the conniving ingénue in ALL ABOUT EVE? Or better yet, Bettie Davis’ character in that film, Margot Channing? Constance Chatterly (LADY CHATTERLY’S LOVER), Lady de Winter (THE THREE MUSKETEERS), Kid Twist (THE STING) are possibilities!
Still Stuck?
Well, here are some names I’ve come up with:
April May June—“The Girl for Every Day!”
Danielle Boom!—“Queen of the Wild Frontier”
Mitzi Tov—“Look at Those Blessings!”
Delta Dawn (This is a song from the 70’s)
Lady Mustache (Good for gender bender performer)
Dutch Courage (this is slang for liquid courage, aka booze)
Dieter Von Cockenstien (well, OK, that speaks for itself)
Oodles O’Quim (thank you comic-book author Alan Moore, from the sequel to graphic novel THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, BLACK DOSSIER.)
Tia Juana Hooker aka TJ Hooker
Cutty Sark (a clipper ship and a brand of Scotch)
Poussé Café (a fancy cocktail made up several different liquers)
Duke L’Orange (maybe best for a male performer…)
Giggles O’Shaunessey
Knockers McGee
Sally Funbags
Miranda Warning (or Miranda Rights)
Terry Velour (from the fabric terrycloth velour)
Junior Petite
If you take any of these names, please let me know ASAP, as I’ll want to remove them from the list.
Lastly:
Any name you pick you should Google the name followed by the word burlesque. If it pops up, you should keep looking!
If it doesn’t, you should join the Miss Exotic World yahoo group and introduce yourself “Hi, I am So-N-So from (your town here) and I am a burlesque performer!”
I hope this helps!
Ciao,
Penny Starr, Jr.
Access the article here: http://burl-expert.tumblr.com/post/5749243569/how-to-pick-your-burlesque-name