Jennifer Lopez Just Explained How She Really Got The Nickname J.Lo

Photo credit: Jennifer Lopez / Instagram
Photo credit: Jennifer Lopez / Instagram

From Prevention

  • Jennifer Lopez finally shared the details of how she got her nickname J.Lo.

  • She told her fellow World of Dance judges the nickname dates back to 2001.

  • The name J.Lo came from the rapper Heavy D, who started calling her Jenny Lo, which she shortened and used as her second album title.


Jennifer Lopez is still Jenny from the block and no doubt she knows exactly where she came from. (From the Bronx hey!) And so does everyone who's been a fan, but you may not know the origin of her nickname J.Lo. (To be honest, I had no idea until the queen herself shared all the details this week.)

J.Lo explained exactly where her famous moniker came from on the July 21 episode of World of Dance. Yep, she's still producing and judging on World of Dance season 4 alongside Derek Hough and Ne-Yo.

It turns out the nickname J.Lo is almost 20 years old as she explained to her fellow judges. "J. Lo came from Heavy D. Remember Heavy D, the rapper? He would come into the studio when I was making my first album, and he would always call me Jenny Lo," she said.

She was also dating Sean "Diddy" Combs at this time and their star-studded romance was making headlines. Their relationship also gave her the nudge to adopt the nickname. J.Lo continued her explanation: "Puffy and Jennifer Lo and Jenny Lo was showing up in records. Like, they were talking about us in records and stuff like that. So I was like, 'I’m gonna name the album J.Lo.'"

She did and clearly the name stuck. J.Lo the album was released on January 23, 2001. It went on to sell 8 million copies, per Chartmasters, and there's no telling how many times the name J.Lo has popped up in conversation.

Previously, J.Lo gave fans all the credit for the three-letter pseudonym. "I'd go to MTV or wherever and there would be kids carrying signs that said 'J. Lo,'" she told the Chicago Tribune in January 2001. "It's kind of like street terminology, and it kind of caught on."

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