Sterling K. Brown Gets Kelly Clarkson Choked Up With Emotional Reason He Stopped Going By His Middle Name

On his birthday, Sterling K. Brown guest-starred on the Kelly Clarkson Show, during which Clarkson inquired about the history of his name. When he was young, he went by his middle name, Kelby, only to later switch to Sterling, which made Clarkson curious.

She also shared a fun story about her son, Remington, who introduced himself during a red carpet event as "Remington Alexander" instead of as "Remy or Remington Blackstock."

Wondering if there was some deeper meaning around choosing a stage name, Clarkson asked if the actor could explain the shift from Kelby to Sterling, and Brown's reasoning went deep and was incredibly sweet.

Brown explained:

"I went by my middle name. I went by Kelby until I was 16 years old."

"My dad's name is Sterling Brown, Jr., and my grandfather was Sterling Brown, Sr., and I'm Sterling Kelby Brown."

Clarkson suggested:

"So you wanted an identity!"

Brown agreed and added:

"I wanted my own name, and it felt like Sterling was an old man's name."

Then Brown hit everyone in the feels.

"But because my grandfather passed away when I was 10, by the time I turned 16 and I hadn't heard his name for five, five and a half years, I was like, 'I kind of just wanna hear that name again.'"

"So, I asked people to call me Sterling."

Clarkson was immediately choked up, and Sterling waved his hands in front of his face as if to wave the feelings away.

You can watch the segment here:

The moment was shared and quickly started trending on both Instagram and TikTok as fans voiced their emotional reactions to Brown's shifting perspective about his name.

Many on TikTok and Instagram were touched by the reason why Brown now goes by "Sterling."

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Others also reassured Clarkson that "Remington Alexander" was an awesome stage name.

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@kellyclarksonshow/TikTok

@kellyclarksonshow/TikTok

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You can see more of Brown and Clarkson's conversation here:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Names carry a lot of weight and importance in our lives, and they are key reminders of who we are.

When we're able to honor ourselves with our names and honor someone that we love, that only serves to make our names that much more powerful.

It's no wonder that this segment touched so many people, especially coming from the actor who performed as Randall in the previously touching This Is Us series.