How Bob Dylan Got His Stage Name
The Nobel Prize-winning folksinger now known as Bob Dylan has boasted numerous names over the course of his decades-long music career. How did the “Blowin’ In The Wind” singer settle on the stage name fans know and love? Here’s what we know.
Bob Dylan’s early years and original name
Born in Duluth, Minnesota on May 24, 1941, Robert Allen Zimmerman was the grandson of Jewish immigrants from Odessa, Russia and Kars Province in Turkey. When the youngster was six years old, his father, Abram Zimmerman, fell ill with polio, and the family moved to Hibbing. By the time the future Bob Dylan was 18, the budding songwriter was performing around town under the name Elston Gunnn. However, his secret alter ego didn’t stick.
After moving to New York City and meeting his ailing idol, Woody Guthrie, Zimmerman hooked up with music manager Albert Grossman and legally changed his name to Robert Dylan. Many people assume the singer’s new surname was a tribute to Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. This may or may not be true, depending on who you ask.
Bob Dylan’s stage name was not inspired by a Welsh poet
The Poetry Foundation suggests that Dylan’s name change was “reportedly in homage” to the long-ago poet who penned Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. However, the “Mr. Tambourine Man” singer himself has been quoted more than once saying the name was not in homage to anyone.
In 1978, Dylan sat for an interview with Playboy. In the article reprinted by Interferenza, the singer was flat-out asked if he changed his name to honor the poet. Dylan immediately answered, “No,” and explained that he hadn’t read much of the poet’s work.
“I haven’t read that much of Dylan Thomas. It’s a common thing to change your name. It isn’t that incredible. Many people do it … Names are labels so we can refer to one another. But deep inside us we don’t have a name. We have no name. I just chose that name and it stuck.”
Gulf News also refutes the persistent rumor that Dylan’s choice of stage name was made in reference to the Welsh poet, reporting that the singer told Dylan biographer Robert Shelton, “Straighten out in your book that I did not take my name from Dylan Thomas. Dylan Thomas’s poetry is for people that aren’t really satisfied in their bed, for people who dig masculine romance.”
From Robert Zimmerman to Bob Dylan in a not-so-straight line
That Dylan wanted a name other than Zimmerman is clear. For a while, he considered using his first name with the surnames Dillon or Allyn. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, the singer was impressed by the way jazz artist David Allyn spelled his name.
“I had suspected that the musician changed the spelling of Allen to Allyn,” Dylan explained. “I could see why. It looked more exotic, more inscrutable. I was going to do this too. Instead of Robert Allen, it would be Robert Allyn.”
The now-80-year-old singer/songwriter has used several monikers over the course of his career, including Elston Gunnn, Bob Landy, Blind Boy Grunt, Tedham Porterhouse, Lucky Wilbury, Robert Milkwood Thomas, Boo Wilbury, Jack Frost, Sergei Petrov, and Zimmy. Since celebrating his bar mitzvah at age 13, the singer’s Hebrew name is Shabtai Zisel ben Avraham.
