What Is Michael B. Jordan's Middle Name?
The "B" in Michael B. Jordan's name stands for Bakari. "My family calls me Bakari," he told GQ. "Nobody calls me Michael. Anybody that really knows me — like, knows me knows me — they don't call me Michael. My mom, even when I'm in trouble, it's 'Bakari!' My spiritual name — in Swahili it means 'of noble promise.'
At first, he considered using his middle name as his surname, potentially going by Michael Bakari. However, he ultimately decided that just the "B" was enough, so long as it's there. After all, it's a name he associates with people close to his heart. "That's why names are very powerful, you know," he added. "Bakari's something that's been said to me all my life by the people I really care about and respect."
Jordan also shared how his common name made him work harder. In a 2018 interview with NPR's Audie Cornish, he said that he used it as motivation to succeed. "Being named Michael Jordan — I think growing up playing sports and having a name like Michael Jordan, and I was extremely competitive, I used to get teased a lot," he divulged. "But it made me want to strive for greatness and be able to compete at whatever I decided to do."
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