The Story Behind Megan Thee Stallion's Name

Megan Thee Stallion has taken the rap scene by the storm with her musical talents. In the past few years, the 25-year-old has emerged as an internet sensation, gained steam as both the poster child for and creator of "Hot Girl Summer," and recently continued her momentum with hits like "Savage" and "B.I.T.C.H."

Megan didn't come to the celeb scene suddenly; she built her horsepower overtime. Originally a Texas gal, Megan went to middle and high school in Houston where she was part of the cheerleading, drill, and dance teams, as mentioned in a Rolling Stone profile of the star in February 2020.

By the time she was in her late teens, she already knew that she had a passion for rapping. But Megan's mom, Holly Thomas, required that she wait until 21 to pursue her talent, according to The Vibe. Perhaps it was her late mother who she got her skills from in the first place. Thomas, whose stage name was Holly-Wood, was also a Houston-based rapper, who influenced Megan with artists like Biggie and UGK while she was growing up.

It's clear that Megan Thee Stallion's southern roots have influenced her music and brand — but to what extent?

The answer: significantly. In fact, even her moniker has origins from Megan Thee Stallion's home state. "Stallion" was born out of men calling her the term, which is Southern slang for a beautiful or voluptuous woman. It can also be used as a nickname for someone who has many lovers (which our hot girl likely has no shortage of).

Although stallions are technically powerful and strongly built male horses packed with testosterone, it's not surprising that Megan would adopt the animal as her artist identity. Megan's music oozes dominance, confidence, and sexuality, which would make her stage name perfectly fitting for her powerhouse style. It could also be related to her attention-grabbing presence, which is accentuated by her impressive height of 5' 10".

Megan admits exactly that. "Honestly, I call myself Thee Stallion because obviously, I'm tall and fine. So men are immediately intimidated by the height anyway. I'm 5'10," she explained in an interview with The Source. "Then, when I'm rapping I come off very strong. I feel like guys don't know how to come at me at first but they get to know me then they're like okay maybe she's not going to rip my head off." 

Perhaps not surprisingly, Megan's real name isn't the one that rose to fame with her. It's actually Megan Jovon Ruth Pete.

Megan Thee Stallion's stage name isn't the only part of her inspired by the south — so is her alter ego Tina Snow, who's the counterpart to Tony Snow, the alter ego of southern artist Pimp C. Pimp C was Megan's "favorite rapper," which isn't surprising considering he was also a founding member of Texas hip-hop group UGK, who she listened to growing up.

"[Pimp C] just makes me feel so cool and so laid back. I get into my act when I listen to Pimp C so I turn myself into Tina Snow, his opposite," Megan (or is it Tina?) explained to The Source. "When people listen to me I want them to feel cool as hell. I want them to get in their act when they're listening to Tina Snow."

Her alter ego was the inspiration behind an entire album — literally called Tina Snow — which she released in 2018, before gaining nationwide fame. The album housed her first song to make it onto the Billboard 100, "Big Ole Freak," fitting in perfectly with her confident alter-ego. As Megan described the song in an interview with Billboard in April 2019. "It makes [women] feel free and sexy, and that's really important... Once you make the girls happy, then you got a winner."

She further elaborated on the personality, telling Vibe, "Tina is the more pimp-ish side of me. Tina is the raw version of Megan, she just don't give a damn."

Perhaps one of Meghan Thee Stallion's most important inspirations from the south is neither Pimp C nor stallions — it's her late mother, Holly Thomas or Holly-Wood.

Although Thomas technically required Megan to wait until age 21 to pursue her passion, she also propelled her daughter forward and inspired her go-getter attitude once she was given the green light to rap. Her mother told her every day to "'Kill these h**s! Go hard on these h**s,'" which Megan explained to The Source is the best advice she's received and became her "daily motto."

Her mom also inspired her to "go hard" when rapping. "When I turned 21 she was like okay just jump off the porch," Megan said. "My mom once stated, 'If Lil Kim's mom can sit through her cursing like that then I can do it too.'"

Maybe something that would have been a surprise to Thomas: Megan claims she actually got her cursing from her mother. "When I started rapping, and cussing and sh**, she was like, 'I don't know where you get it from,'" Megan said to Rolling Stone. "She was a potty-mouth, worse than me."

Although the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, there are differences between Megan's style (which she describes as "sensual") and her late mother's (which Megan says was "gangster"). But behind Megan there's still a driving force that she got from her mama.