Why do I never hear people used her first and last name? I always only hear her referred to as "Zendaya". In movie credits does it just say "Zendaya"? Did she purposely drop all her other names for showbiz?
What other famous women go by one name? I can think of Madonna Ciccone and Cherilyn Sarkisian.
Zandaya Coleman for the Emmy win!
shareIt's purely a professional thing. She's registered in the Actor's Guild as Zendaya.
shareMost likely when she was starting out someone suggested they drop the Coleman part of her name because it sounded less black than just calling her Zendaya. Of course the irony of whoever had that thought was that Coleman is the last of the black father. Most likely he is the one that had the idea on the name as you will note he changed his name from Samuel Coleman to Kazembe Ajamu Coleman which is what a lot of people trying to distance themselves from their American name have done but for whatever reason he has never bothered with picking a African last name.
share"Zendaya" sounds unique and exotic, which stands out even more by itself.
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