Eminem gained mainstream popularity in 1999 – but some people have no idea how he got his rap name, as social media users share their surprise over its origin story

He is a legend in the rapping world – but some fans are only just learning what Eminem ‘s name actually means. The American rapper and music producer has been credited with popularising hip hop in Middle America and breaking down racial barriers for white rappers.

His most successful songs to have made their way onto the US Billboard Hot 100 include The Real Slim Shady, Lose Yourself, Without Me, Love the Way You Lie, Not Afraid, The Monster, Godzilla and, most recently, Houdini.

The 51-year-old gained mainstream popularity in 1999 with the release of his major-label debut album The Slim Shady LP. Since then, everyone has known Marshall Mathers by his rap name Eminem. However, people have started to question how he got his name, with one Reddit user asking: “Why did he call himself Eminem?

“Does anyone know why he called himself that? I have been listening to him for quite a long time but I never understood why he chose Eminem instead of something like Slim Shady.” It turns out his rap name Eminem dates back to his childhood when he and his high school friend, Mike Ruby, adopted the names Manix and M&M. The name M&M, short for Marshall Mathers, later evolved into Eminem.

Commenting on this revelation, some users shared their shock having not realised the connection sooner. One user claimed: “He actually used to label his material M&M but he changed it when it started to takes himself more seriously and garner attention to avoid an obvious lawsuit.”

In response to this, another user said: “I think in the booklet for MMLP there’s an old pic of him rapping and his outfit has the m&m cartoon characters printed on it.” While another user confirmed: “His initials are MM, or M&M, which is pronounced Eminem when said quickly.”

A third user said: “I saw an interview with someone that knew him when he was younger and he actually came up with that when he was messing around with M&M’s and took two of them and put them together, and asked the guy (the guy was someone’s parent or something) what does it say, and he said M&M and then Eminem went yeah, that’s me.”