True fans know that the world-renowned supermodel uses a pseudonym. Born Jelena (pronounced Yelena), Hadid was called Gigi early on, but only by her close family. “My mom was called that as a kid by her mother when she was younger, but only around the house,” Gigi said in a 2015 interview. “I was called that around the house when I was really young, kind of like how my mom was called it.”
Then in grade school, when Jelena became confusing, Gigi became Gigi full-time. “In first or second grade, there was a girl named Helena and it got confusing with the teacher who had to call out our names, and so the teacher asked my mom, ‘If I needed to call Jelena a nickname, what would it be?’ And my mom was like, ‘I call her Gigi sometimes,’ and the name stuck,” the model explained.
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