What is the real name of Freddie Mercury?

Freddie Mercury’s real name was Farrokh Bulsara.

He was born on 5 September 1946 in Stone Town, Zanzibar, to Bomi and Jer Bulsara, members of India’s Parsi Zoroastrian community. His family later moved to India, where he attended St. Peter’s School in Panchgani and began piano lessons. School friends started calling him Freddie, a nickname that stayed with him.

After the family relocated to England in 1964, Bulsara studied art and became involved in music. He joined the band Smile, whose members Brian May and Roger Taylor later formed Queen with him. Around 1970, he adopted the stage surname Mercury, creating the name by which he became internationally famous.

A common mix-up is to treat “Freddie Bulsara” as his original full name. Bulsara was his family surname, while Farrokh was his birth first name; Mercury was the professional surname he later chose. He also legally changed his surname to Mercury in 1969.