In a fan meeting, aespa sparked discussion among MYs after they revealed the stage names that they almost had before their current ones.

Did they make the right decision to change it?

aespa Member Unveil Initial Stage Names — NingNing Almost Became RingRing?

On November 17, aespa celebrated its third debut anniversary through an offline fan meeting, "MY DRAMA," held at the Peace Hall at Kyung Hee University in Seoul. They also met global fans as the event was broadcast online through the platform, Beyond LIVE.

During the event, aespa didn't only give impressive stage, but the members also took their time to communicate with MYs (fandom) and recalled their journey since their debut.

ALSO READ: SM Entertainment Artists Who Were Cast Through Instagram DMs: aespa Karina, RIIZE Wonbin, More!

One topic they discussed that drew a lot of attention from fans was when they unveiled the stage names that they considered before choosing the current ones.

In particular, aespa is one of the groups where all members use stage names. Currently, Karina, whose real name is Jimin chose it as a reference to her baptism name, Katarina. Giselle, who's originally Aeri in birth opted for the name after a trainee pointed out her elegant look that resembles British schoolgirls.

As for Winter (originally Kim Minjeong), her name was chosen since she was born during the cold season in February. Lastly, NingNing was named after her last name, Ning Yizhuo.

Their current stage names sound perfect for the members, but they revealed that they were almost named differently!

During the discussion with the company, Karina almost became Z-On, written and pronounced as "Ji On." It sounds unique but at the same time normal in Hangul, so to match aespa's futuristic concept, it was stylized as Z-On.

Giselle then almost became Alexis, or Alex for short.

As for Winter, due to her fair complex, she was almost named "Baek Seol," the Korean of Snow White. Some other choices include Milly, Young Won (Forever) and Moa.

While the aforementioned were still understandable, NingNing was the most baffled after the company suggested she be called "RingRing"!

Fortunately, both members and the company reconsidered these names as their current ones undoubtedly sound better!

aespa Becomes 1st Week Million-Seller for 3 Consecutive Times

Meanwhile, aespa, who just returned with a new album on November 10 solidified their position as a top-tier fourth-gen group after recording a first-week million seller three consecutive times!

After selling 1.13 million initial sales (the first week of sales since its release) with its fourth mini-album, "Drama," aespa achieved another million-selling album based on the Hanteo Chart. This is their third time following "Girls" released in July 2022 and "My World" dropped in May 2023.

On top of this achievement, "Drama" is recording various other records, such as sitting atop the digital album sales charts of China's largest music platform QQ Music and Kugou Music where they obtained the "double platinum album" certification given to albums with sales of 2 million yuan ($277, 250).

The album also topped the overall/Korean music video chart and received favorable reviews from major foreign media such as the Associated Press (AP), the largest news agency in the United States, and CLASH, a British music and fashion magazine.

READ MORE: aespa Makes History as 1st K-pop Girl Group to Achieve THIS in Hanteo Charts

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Written by Eunice Dawson.