Reneé Rapp Reveals Her Mom Gave Her a Name with 'Alliteration' in Case She Wanted to Become a 'Pop Star'

Published: May 27, 2025

Reneé Rapp's mother manifested her superstardom in an unexpected way. During the May 27 episode of Amy Poehler's podcast Good Hang, the Mean Girls actress revealed how her mom, Denise Rapp, chose her name.

"My mom chose my first and last name to be, well, okay, arguably chose my first and last name to both have [two letter R's]," Reneé, 25, said. "She was like, 'alliteration, just in case she wants to be a pop star' before I was born."

Though the singer called the move "conceited," she is admittedly "obsessed with the way [her mother] did it." "I'm like, thank you, God."

Host Amy Poehler broke down the coincidence, impressed with how things turned out. "She gave you a pop star name just in case, because Reneé Rapp is a huge pop star name."

Reneé also told Poehler, 53, that her parents were hard on her growing up, especially her father Charles, who has relative pitch, is "very musically inclined" and would tell her when she was flat.

Her father told The Los Angeles Times in 2023 about the work ethic they passed on to their daughter. "I’m very competitive, and I think Denise is competitive," he said at the time.

"Growing up, we would tell Reneé if [her voice] didn’t sound good. I used to tell her, ‘OK, that was fantastic, Reneé, but what could you have done differently? How could you have done it better?’"

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