The False Rumor Everyone Believes About Nikki Haley's Real Name
If there's one thing that follows anyone and everyone who gets involved with politics, it's rumors. And it's safe to say that Nikki Haley is no stranger to a rumor or two. Ever since Nikki entered the public eye, and particularly since she decided to try to run as the 2024 Republican presidential candidate (a run that's already ended), the ex-United Nations ambassador has been dogged by the rumor mill.
There's one rumor in particular, though, that a lot of people have believed, but it turns out it's actually fake. The rumor suggested that Haley had been tactically going by a different name for her political career, as it was claimed she'd changed it from her birth name of Nimarata Nikki Randhawa. That's the name the politician was given by her parents, who were born in India but gave birth to Nikki and raised her in South Carolina. But there's more to this name origin story than meets the eye.
Nikki Haley has been using her middle name for years
While it's true that Nikki Haley's birth name is Nimarata Nikki Randhawa, it's not true that she took steps to drastically change it to help her career. This rumor began on social media, with several users speculating Nikki decided to go by another name to better assimilate with the Republican Party. "Her name was Nimirata Haley. Changed it to Nikki Haley," one person incorrectly stated on X, formerly known as Twitter. Another claimed, "Nimrata Randhawa aka Nikki Haley quits, but why did she [change] her name?" alongside a video that claimed, "Nikki Haley changed her name from Nimrata Randhawa because racism doesn't exist in the GOP."
The real reason why Nimarata Nikki Randhawa goes by Nikki Haley today is because she's been using her middle name as her first since she was young. In her 1989 school yearbook, for example, she goes by the name Nikki Randhawa. And while Nikki may sound like a Western name to some, it actually means little one and is used as a term of endearment for young girls in Punjabi. As for where the last name Haley came from? Well, that's the surname of her husband, Michael Haley, which she took on when she married him in 1996. Nikki herself even cleared up the speculation back in 2018, writing on X, "Nikki is my name on my birth certificate. I married a Haley. I was born Nimarata Nikki Randhawa and married Michael Haley."
Donald Trump once mocked Nikki Haley's birth name
Though Nikki Haley's name came about naturally and has been her legal name for years now, that hasn't stopped Donald Trump from incorrectly referencing her birth name multiple times. In a Truth Social post shared in January, the former president referred to his now former Republican Presidential candidate rival as Nimbra, which appeared to be his take on the name Nimarata.
But this isn't the only time Nikki and a middle name have hit the headlines, though. In fact, it's because of Nikki that her husband goes by his current name, Michael Haley. Micheal's first name is actually Bill, but Nikki revealed that she thought he was better suited to his middle name when she met him. In her 2012 book, "Can't Is Not An Option: My American Story," Nikki recalled a conversation she once had with Michael that led him to adopt a new moniker. "You just don't look like a Bill," she told him. "From that point on, I started calling him Michael, and all my friends did the same. He looks like a Michael," she wrote.