It’s not just a name. It’s a negotiation — between heritage, perception, and the pressure to fit a frame. As Naga Munchetty opens up about why she once considered shedding “Subha Nagalakshmi,” the conversation shifts from trivia to truth: how many names were trimmed to make space in the spotlight?

BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty has been a fixture on the programme since 2009, but viewers are only now discovering that Naga isn’t her actual name.

Born in 1975, Naga was raised in Streatham, south London, though her mother originally came from Tamil Nadu in India, whilst her father relocated to the UK from Mauritius.

Her parents first met whilst both were studying in Wales, and married in London just one year before Naga’s birth, without informing either set of parents.

English served as their common language, so throughout Naga’s childhood it remained the household tongue.

Naga herself didn’t visit India until the age of eight to meet her grandparents, before making her first trip to Mauritius at 12.

The BBC presenter has opened up about her views on anglicised names during a chat with The Guardian, revealing that her mum Muthu previously went by Michelle.

She explained: “Names are so important, identity is so important. Once when I was a child, a woman called my mum Michelle. I said, ‘Why are you calling her that?’ and she said ‘It’s her name’.

“I said, ‘No, it’s not, her name is Muthu’. It made me think, that’s a difficult thing to have to deal with. It’s like losing your identity. But it’s what used to happen, immigrants anglicising their names.”

So what is Naga’s actual name? It’s Subha Nagalakshmi Munchetty-Chendriah, reports the Express.

She quipped to the publication: “Can you imagine spelling that for people when you’re a small child at school?

“But my mother started calling me Naga, because it means cobra and she dreamed of snakes when she was pregnant. I’ve always hated the name and for a while I thought about changing it to Nadia. In some ways, I wish I had.”