That’s one way to come up with a middle name.

It’s no secret that for decades, artist from all sorts of genres, and even actors and other kinds of performers, have used stage names. Marilyn Monroe, Freddie Mercury, Elton John, Eminem and so many others have used them as a tool to create some sort of persona, and it can really work. Even country artists do it…

Including Riley Green  whose real name is actually Jonathan Riley Green. He joked in an interview with Katie of the Katie & Company radio show that he “J” is actually silent, but yes, that is his real name, though no one has ever actually called him that, including his parents:

“Well, it’s actually ‘Jonathan.’ It’s a soft ‘J.’ Nobody’s ever called me Jonathan. I don’t know.”

He went on to explain the funny, and very interesting story, of how his parents came up with the name Riley. He says that his great grandaddy, who he never knew, got dementia in his later years, and he started calling Riley’s dad, whose name is Kevon… Riley.

I guess Riley’s parents liked the name, because when Riley was born, they decided to use that as his middle name.

Family names are incredibly common especially in the South, my middle name is my grandma’s first name, so that part isn’t crazy at all… but I had to laugh at the fact that this was a sort of made up family name that his parents must’ve just liked? Or maybe it was some sort of tribute to Paul, who knows… either way, it clearly stuck, because Riley says no one has ever called him Jonathan, and he doesn’t even think he would turn around if he heard someone calling that name:

“I know that I go the name Riley because my great grandaddy Paul, who I didn’t know, got little dementia, and he started calling my dad Riley. My dad’s name is Kevon. My parent’s were like, yep, we’re going to name our first son Riley. Nobody’s ever called me Jonathan, no. I don’t even think I would turn if I heard it.”

I honestly didn’t know for a long time that it wasn’t actually his real first name, and I feel like there’s a reason it stuck from the beginning, because it’s hard to even think of him as being anything other than Riley.

And in case you’ve had a hard time keeping up with everything he has going on right now, the Alabama native just recently announced a new album, That’s Just Me will be out everywhere this fall, on September 18th. In addition to being on the road for his Cowboy As It Gets Tour right now, Riley will be a judge on The Voice this fall, and he also recently appeared four a four-show stint on the TV series Marshals, so he’s got a lot going on.

Oh yeah, and he also has an honorary doctorate degree now, which he joked in the interview is the most surprising thing he’s done in his career so far by a wide margin…

“Think As You Drunk”