Puff Daddy, P.Diddy, Diddy, Swag? The Sean Combs Name Change Timeline

Sean Combs has had a lot of name changes in his career, but now he's back to the name we all first knew him by, Puff Daddy. He might have come full circle but inbetween we had P.Diddy, Diddy and even Swag (what?). So incase you're wondering, here's a full timeline of the many names of Sean Combs, the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy who was P.Diddy or Diddy but is now Puff Daddy again.

The man now known (again) as Puff Daddy came into the world on November 4th 1969 and was then given his first name, the very normal, Sean John Combs. It was as a child that he was first given the ‘Puffy’ nickname as he used to ‘huff and puff’ when he got mad. He told Jett magazine back in 1998 that growing up he ‘had a temper. That's why my friend started calling me Puffy.’ The nickname stuck and in 1993 he founded ‘Bad Boy Records’ and signed rapper Craig Mack, who’s single 'Flava In Ya Ear’ became the label’s first release. The label’s main star soon became the Notorious B.I.G. after the release of his 1994 ‘Ready to Die’ album. Combs is credited on the record as a producer under the name Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs.

When Combs became ready to make the move as a solo artist he added the ‘Daddy’ to his name, you know ,to show that he was 'the man'. As Puff Daddy Combs released his debut solo album ‘No Way Out’ in 1997 which included the single "I'll Be Missing You", a tribute to The Notorious B.I.G who had been shot and killed that March. The album later won Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.

In 1998 the entrepreneur moved into the world of fashion, launching his first clothing line, named Sean John, after himself of course. Then 1999 Combs began a high profile relationship with singer and actress Jennifer Lopez. The couple hit the headlines in December that year, after Combs was arrested when a shooting broke out in a New York night club. Combes was charged on four weapons-related charges as well as with bribing his driver. He was later found not guilty on all charges. Around this time he was usually referred to as Puffy.

Next page: Puffy's acquittal, and more name changes

After his acquittal, Combs decided to put all the drama behind him by changing his name again, this time to P.Diddy in 2001. Combs told MTV that March, ‘no more Puff Daddy - the first week in June, we're going to have a name-change ceremony, I just want something fresh. I'm rocking with P Diddy now’. The nickname had been suggest by his late friend the Notorious B.I.G. The name change was later lampooned in his video for ‘Bad Boy For Life’ when Ben Stiller calls at his door and says, ‘Puffy, or Diddy, P Poppa, Poppadiddy pop, I’m sorry I don’t know what you're calling yourself these days’. Four years later the P was dropped and he became just Diddy. He explained the reason saying, ‘I felt the 'P' was coming between me and my fans,’ in an interview with Katie Couric. Adding, ‘we had to simplify it. It was, you know, doing concerts and half the crowd saying 'P. Diddy,' half the crowd chanting 'Diddy.' Now everybody can just chant ‘Diddy.' Yes changing your name again makes things a lot easier Diddy.

In 2008 his clothing company Sean John launched their first fragrance entitled, ‘I Am King’, but we’re not sure if this one counts as an official name change. Then in 2011 he changed his name again, this time to ‘Swag’. Swag wasn't for the long term though, he only wanted to be called it for a week as he had just recovered from being sick. He said, ’in honor of my comeback … for this week only, you can call me by my new name, Swag!’. Despite it only being a 7 day change he did set up a twitter @iamswag which he used for a five day period, that's dedication.

Now once again Sean Combs is back, this time as Puff Daddy. He made the announcement alongside a teaser for his new video ‘Big Homie’ , from his upcoming album 'MMM'. With all the attention the apparent name change got, Diddy, sorry, Puff Daddy tweeted ‘For the record, I did not change my name. I always have been and always will be PUFF DADDY! :) Be cool Man lol’. But you did Sean and we have the albums to prove it.

So it’s from Sean Combs to Puff Daddy by way of Puffy then P.Diddy or just Diddy and briefly Swag but now Puff Daddy again, wow. That’s a lot of names for just one man. We’re thinking if you meet him and get confused maybe just call him Mr Combs. Surely he can’t argue with that?

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