Las Vegas Weekly

What’s in a name? Adult entertainers explain

Jenni Lynn of GlamorGirl Magazine oses for photos at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo at the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas Friday, January 7, 2011.

Photo: Leila Navidi

Jack Hammer. Jiz Lee. Buck Angel. Like many people, I am fascinated with the names that adult performers and directors use professionally. While sass and double-entendre abound, it’s not always easy to guess what inspired someone to choose the stage name he or she uses — and virtually everyone uses one to protect their off-screen identities.

Most people probably know the standard formula for generating your porn name. Take the name of your first pet, combine it with the name of the street you grew up on and there you have it. (By this formula, I’d be “Joey Cherry” — a mighty fine porn name, if I say so myself.)

Not surprisingly, though, this is not the strategy that most adult performers and directors use when coming up with a stage name.

Curiosity got the better of me at the Adult Entertainment Expo, and I asked a number of people to explain the genesis of their names. This is what I learned.

Chanel Preston, Best New Starlet nominee, told me that she wanted a name that sounded classy. Chanel fit the bill. Plus, it was the name she used in her high school French class. Preston, she said, was just random.

MILF performer Brenda James told me that when she entered the adult business her boyfriend’s pet name for her was “Brenda,” and his first name was “James.” She wanted a name that was easy to remember and easy to spell. (“Smart,” I told her, after a night on the red carpet asking many performers to repeat and spell their names for me.) She also felt that if she was going into the business, her boyfriend was too. Thus, “Brenda James” was born.

Petite beauty India Summer, who tied for Best Actress of the Year for her performance in An Open Invitation, cited several influences, including the song "Indian Summer," and the fact that she is Native American.

Athena Pleasures wanted to honor her Greek and Czech heritage. “And I love to give and receive pleasure,” she told me.

Zoe Voss, a tall and leggy performer who has been making adult films only since March 2010, said that she always liked the name Zoe and felt she looked like a Zoe. And since she also works as a fashion model, she admires Kate Moss. Hence, Zoe Voss.

Diana DeVoe said that she had a friend back in Hawaii whose name was “DeVoe” and that “Diana” is her actual middle name. “On another note, if I used the ‘first pet + street name’ formula, my name would be Fred Farrington.”

My favorite story came from Spencer Benedict, who wrote and directed the movie Gia: Portrait of a Porn Star (which also featured music by local band “Sin City Sinners”). His name was inspired by an episode of the Odd Couple, where Felix Unger shoots for Playboy magazine. Unger gets a delivery for a “Spencer Benedict” and explains, “You don’t think I’d use my real name for nudies.”