• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Why Diddy has had so many names as chilling meaning of 'Puff Daddy' was shared before sentencing

Home> News> US News

Updated 13:01 3 Oct 2025 GMT+1Published 12:59 3 Oct 2025 GMT+1

Why Diddy has had so many names as chilling meaning of 'Puff Daddy' was shared before sentencing

Sean 'Diddy' Combs has used several aliases throughout his career

Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper

This is the reason why disgraced hip-hop mogul Diddy has changed his stage name several times throughout his career.

Sean 'Diddy' Combs is scheduled to be sentenced for his crimes later today (3 October) after being found guilty of two out of five counts against him at a highly publicised trial in New York earlier this year.

However, the 55-year-old was found not guilty on the more serious charges of sex-trafficking and racketeering, which means he avoids a life sentence.

Combs could face a maximum of 20 years behind bars, with prosecutors arguing for a sentence of at least 11 years, while his defence is hoping to see him released later this month.

Advert

In the run-up to the sentencing, Combs submitted a letter to Judge Arun Subramanian in which he apologised for his behaviour.

Sean Combs will find out his sentence today (Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images)
Sean Combs will find out his sentence today (Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images)

The trial saw high-profile witnesses such as Combs' former partner Cassie Ventura and singer Kid Cudi testify about their relationship with the hip-hop mogul, while numerous details from the 'I'll Be Missing You' hitmaker's life have resurfaced online.

This includes the various name changes which Combs has undergone throughout his career – from 'Puff Daddy' to 'Brother Love'.

All the stage names that Diddy has used throughout his career

Puff Daddy

When Combs broke onto the music scene during the 1990s, he was typically credited as 'Puff Daddy'. Typically featuring alongside fellow rapper Notorious B.I.G., Combs was credited as 'Puff Daddy' on songs such as 'Mo Money Mo Problems', and his 1997 album No Way Out.

Advert

He was also credited under this stage name on the Grammy-winning track 'I'll Be Missing You', a collaboration with Faith Evans and 112 to commemorate the death of Notorious B.I.G.

Puffy

Before he was 'Puff Daddy', Combs was known as 'Puffy'. The nickname had a pretty chilling backstory, with the singer revealing to Jet Magazine in 1997 how the name came from his childhood temperament, as he would 'huff and puff' when angry.

However he's had many names over the years (Nitro/Getty Images)
However he's had many names over the years (Nitro/Getty Images)

P. Diddy

Combs decided a rebrand was needed at the turn of the millennium, changing his stage name to P. Diddy.

Advert

He later revealed the nickname was given to him by Notorious B.I.G. before his passing in 1997. "No more Puff Daddy - the first week in June, we're going to have a name-change ceremony. I'm not doing it as serious as Prince. I just want something fresh. I'm rocking with P. Diddy just now," he told MTV at the time (via ABC).

The name change also followed a series of legal troubles for Combs, leading to suggestions it was a way of breaking with the past.

Diddy

Perhaps his most well-known stage name, the rapper dropped the 'P' as he believed it would make it easier for fans to shout at concerts.

However, the change didn't come without legal troubles, with a lawsuit from DJ Richard 'Diddy' Dearlove, meaning he wasn't able to release his album Press Play under the alias.

Advert

This includes Diddy, Puff Daddy and Brother Love (John Lamparski/WireImage)
This includes Diddy, Puff Daddy and Brother Love (John Lamparski/WireImage)

Brother Love

In 2017, Diddy became 'Love, a.k.a. Brother Love'.

"I’m just not who I am before," he said at the time (via The Guardian). "I’m someone different. So my new name is Love AKA Brother Love."

He later made the change official in 2021, adding it to his middle name on legal documents.

Advert

This name didn't last long, as he was back to being Diddy in 2022.

Frank Black

A nickname previously unknown by the general public, Combs would use the alter-ego 'Frank Black' in order to make reservations for his 'freak-offs', according to testimony from his former assistant George Kaplan.

The name was said to be a nod to Notorious B.I.G., who used the nickname 'Frank White'.

Featured Image Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Topics: US News, Diddy, Crime

Brenna Cooper
Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper is a journalist at LADbible. She graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in History, followed by an NCTJ accredited masters in Journalism. She began her career as a freelance writer for Digital Spy, where she wrote about all things TV, film and showbiz. Her favourite topics to cover are music, travel and any bizarre pop culture.

X

@_brencoco

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

14 mins ago
an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • Paras Griffin/Getty Images
    14 mins ago

    Sean 'Diddy' Combs sentenced to four years in prison

    The disgraced music mogul has now officially been sentenced

    News
  • NASA
    an hour ago

    Scientists reveal where 'alien object' heading past Earth will actually be going

    NASA experts have been tracking its movements...

    News
  • Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
    an hour ago

    Everything we know about the 'African tribe' who were living in Scottish woodlands

    The members of the 'Kingdom of Kubala' were evicted from the land they had laid claim to by police earlier this week

    News
  • Ole_CNX/Getty Images
    2 hours ago

    Shocking report finds AI willing to let humans die to avoid shutdown

    The unsettling research found that AI systems were willing to 'take deliberate actions that lead to death'

    News
  • Diddy requests prison release on $50 million bond before sentencing
  • Everything Kid Cudi shared about Diddy and Cassie as he took stand in trial
  • Diddy made open comment to courtroom before uttering two words 'under his breath' during trial
  • Everything Diddy is being accused of as trial begins today