Im Foreva Infiniti and my magic's derived from Numbers and Colors. Colors are Foreva and Numbers are Infinite.

I am working an a Mentalism/Bizarre act right now that will probably take a year or more to be happy with. The name I am going to use for this act is Maximus Miraculous. I will combine some Mentalism, Bizarre/Spooky, and also do some basic Tarot readings (a long standing interest of mine). My real name is Max and this name is sort of a play on Miracle Max from the princess Bride.



-Max

I would suggest that the name you take should be appropriate for the type of show you perform, and the audience.

A name like "Silly Billy" may work for kids shows, but could work against you if you do corporate shows. Some have suggested just using your name if you perform in senior homes - it will help them identify with you.

My name is john scott, so my stage names are derived from that, my wizard persona is Scotty DuWizard,In pirate shows I am Mystical Johny the Scott, etc, otherwise just John Scott

I’ve really never liked my family name, but have always used variations of my given name. An early version was Donovan. A couple years ago I was mulling over how to “re-enter” magic world, I figured an after-dinner show would be the simplest. “Dinner with Donatelli” sounded about right to me, and since then it’s been just Donatelli.

Having had 2 previous names (Mandarin and Diamond Jim) both of which I still use occasionally, I currently use a name taken from the T.S. Eliot book "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats". A lead character in the musical "Cats", I like it because he is a "Conjuring Cat" and quite magical. Those who have seen "Cats" will remember-

And we all say: OH!
Well I never!
Was there ever
A Cat so clever
As Magical Mr. Mistoffelees!

The slight spelling adjustment is intentional, as I wanted to make the name closer to "Mystery"...

Jim

Mine came from my young nephew's inability to pronounce the letter L. So, Liam became Nium and it just stuck. Obviously if I was table hopping I would use my real name but yeah that's the story of magicnium.

I'm not really a magician so it's a bit different.
In my country, when you are a "general" comedian, performing for children gives you a bad image. I absolutely love performing for children, but I wanted to make sure I could go back to general dramatic stage if I wanted to one day, so I decided to have a name for kid shows.
First name Pepita was the name of a character in a Christmas show I'd written. Pop...was because I'm a balloon twister too.

That’s a valid concern in this country as well, especially for mentalists. If you do “magic”, then you are seen as a trickster, not good for serious mentalism. Most performers who do both also maintain separate websites, so that people looking for magicians find one set of information, and those seeking mentalists find a different page.

I discovered a couple years ago that I can play a really convincing Santa Claus, and of course Santa should be able to do magic. But I really love mind reading also. The balance for now is that between Halloween and Christmas (“holiday” season) I do Santa, then at New Years I turn into Donatelli.

In the back of my mind I have yet another character waiting to get out (at least two years away), and I have no idea how I’ll handle him!

Although I don't use a stagename, I took my MagicCafe username--Anatole--from the episode "The Great Anatole" on the TV anthology series "Dick Powell Theater." Curt Jurgens starred in the title role and IMHO his portrayal was the single greatest performance ever by an actor playing the part of a magician. Dana Wynter played the role of Barbara Bellamore, Anatole's assistant, and her portrayal was, I feel, the single greatest performance by an actress of a magician's assistant. Jurgens did all the tricks himself in the show. There was a "Film to Life" sequence in the show that was outstanding. The story/plot was fantastic as well.

I think if I had become a professional magician, I would have adopted a stage name because both my first name and my last name are very difficult for people unfamiliar with Spanish to pronounce, and I have Anglicized the pronunciation of my last name because the Spanish pronunciation of the "v" and the "ae" are rather different from the way the letters are pronounced in English.

----- Amado "Sonny" Narvaez

Choosing a name is a greatly personal thing, people have various and as-sundry ways of assuming their stage name. As you have seen here, some use their own name or variants there of. Others adopt outlandish names, IE The Pendragons, etc.
In my lifetime I have been several characters starting as Tater the Clown, a naming story way to convoluted to tell here, I decided to get more bookings in a broader market dropped the clown and, as I am also a balloon entertainer, adopted Professor Twist, a character in an Ogden Nash Poem "The Purist". This second name came from a long list of names bandied about by my wife and I for almost two weeks, when I finally settled on the right one, it just fit and felt right, like those sneakers you know you should throw away but they just feel so nice to wear. I am also a make-up artist/face and body Painter and my newest personality is Paul P Kasso, artist extraordinaire.
Over the years I've played with new concepts, new ideas, different names, different characters. The key is to find what suits you.You'll know it when you find it. Grab a sheet of paper and a pen or pencil and start writing...your name, variations of your name, fun things about what you do, variations of that, and grow your list like that. Then walk away for awhile, don't touch it for several hours, when you come back, look over the list with a critical eye. It helps, believe me. I've named business' and helped other characters through the years.

Ive been considering one for myself. What I have in mind is Floyd(ian) Kovanica. I just incorporated two things I like. Pink Floyd and Coins. Kovanica is 'coin' in Croatian. Perhaps using foreing words can add something unique to it.

I could just use jake(last name)magic as my business name
And I'll guess I'll just have to wait until I find the perfect name, until then jake the the magician or jake the magnificent might have to do

Mononym names are the best choices, in my opinion: Teller, Cher, Sting...uh, Buddah.

Who needs a magic name

Take any name, add an -ini to the end. Presto! Instant magic name.

-The Great Salamini

I always ask to be called by my regular name and shun the use of a stage name because of what it connotes.

My performing attitude is that I'm enjoying the show together with the audience, and that I'm one of them. I feel that the use of a stage name would introduce too much of a 'gap' and make me much less relatable to my audience

A group of employees at the Magic Castle gave me the name Drunk Dana. I'm sure my mother would be proud.

(P.S. I don't drink.)

Learning from one of my relatives, I changed my name often. (He used such names as the DeFrancesco Brothers, Our family name "Bouton" but he used the French Spelling "Boughton", and Fredrick the Great. None really worked for him. He finally settled on Blackstone and managed to make a buck or two.
In my case it was the necessity of changing my name after every show so I could get another booking. I used a number of names over the years. I used my maternal gradfather's middle name, Omyn, for a good while but got tired of smart alec announcers pronouncing it "Old man". When I was ordained a Greek Orthodox priest, the bishop ordained me with my chrismation name of Photius and I became Fr. Photius both in magic and IRL.

I think you can use your own name or a stage name. I think it just needs to flow for you and fit your character. My stage name is Doc Johnson.

KJ