The aespa Members Could’ve Had Totally Different Stage Names — These Were The Choices

aespa held a fanmeeting to celebrate their 3rd anniversary. Through MY DRAMA, the girls met with fans both online, and in person.

During the fanmeting, the girls revealed the many options they had considered for their stage names. All of the members are using stage names. Karina‘s real name is Jimin, Giselle‘s is Aeri, NingNing‘s is Ning Yizhuo, and Winter‘s is Kim Minjeong.

Left to right: Winter, Karina, NingNing, Giselle.

As per idol debuts, the company and the members discuss name choices. Karina picked hers as it was part of her baptism name, Katarina. NingNing’s name is derived from her last name, Ning. Winter was named for the snowy season as she was born during Feburary. Giselle’s name was given to her by her trainer due to her elegant look as a trainee. She often wore headbands, reminding the trainer of British schoolgirls.

Karina revealed that her stage name was almost Z-On. Z-On is written as “Ji On” in Korean, a unique, yet normal enough name in Hangul. Stylizing it as “Z-On” would’ve made it more futuristic.

카리나 예명중에 “Z-on(지온)” 있었대… pic.twitter.com/5aJ4DG67Hz

— 일일. (@11Wlals4) November 17, 2023

NingNing was almost named RingRing, while Giselle recalled that they almost named her Alex or Alexis. The company felt that RingRing was more memorable, but NingNing was baffled at the name.

231117 에스파 팬미팅 #닝닝

링링아니고 닝닝이지만 실제론 링링이가 될뻔한 썰
ㄴ엥이었어요 pic.twitter.com/fuZ0PVVH9i

— 땅 (@nxngyxzhuo) November 17, 2023

Winter had the most choices. There was Snow White (Baek Seol), Milly, Forever (Young Won), Moa, and more!

aespa’s supposed names

: Ringring
: Alex or Alexis
: Snow White (etc) pic.twitter.com/cc0Jp62WJf

— Jazz (@mjkmwntr) November 17, 2023

It’s rare for a group to all use stage names. The chosen names make the girls’ unique auras shine even brighter!