CELEBRITY
“Name Games: The Taylor Swift Odyssey… Delve into the Intriguing Tale!”
Who’s Taylor Swift anyway?
Taylor Swift has gone through “hell” because of her name — but not the Taylor Swift you’re thinking of.
A 19-year-old from the Scottish village of Newarthill, Lanarkshire, shares a name with the global superstar — and is often told she’s an imposter of the pop phenomenon, who released her latest chart-topping, blood-spilling album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” on April 19.
Her ID has been questioned by taxi drivers and border officials to the point that she now additionally carries around her passport to prove she’s not trying to impersonate the “Cruel Summer” singer.
“I’ve had hell because of my name,” the Swift of Scotland told The Sun.
Swift’s parents, Mairi Rice and Peter Swift, both 43, named their daughter before Taylor Swift became the huge star she is today.
The singer’s self-titled debut album was released in 2006 when baby Swift, born in December 2004, would’ve been about 2 years old.
“Normally, most of us only need to have documentation for a few things,” her mom told the outlet. “But for Taylor, she needs it for absolutely everything. Nobody believes her.”
Naturally, Mairi and Peter didn’t know about the yet-to-be global sensation when they named their daughter.
“As soon as we saw our girl, she just looked like a Taylor Swift,” Mairi said. “She is very outgoing, very bubbly. The name Taylor Swift is not a coincidence. Something led to that. It’s in her character.”
A few years later, Mairi saw her daughter’s name pop up on the screen of a music channel — and after that, more people started to recognize the name.
The teen first discovered she shared a name with a celebrity when she was just 12 years old and attending Taylor High School. (Yes, you read that correctly, too.)
After the release of Swift’s 2014 album “1989,” people started coming up to her at school and telling her she had “a famous name.”
“I told them, ‘No, I don’t.’ Then I realized who she was. Now I’m a top Swiftie fan. I love her,” she said of her namesake, who currently is in a well-publicized relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Luckily for her, the name recognition meant she was well-known at school and “never had problems with getting bullied,” she said.
“Maybe in a few arguments, I got, ‘Shut up — your name’s Taylor Swift.’ Some people don’t like her,” she shared. “But I love Taylor. That’s life; you just move on.”
She believes the Swift name has also made employers think she’s not genuine when applying to jobs — and she’s subsequently faced trouble finding work.