While appearing on The Undertaker’s podcast, Bayley offered a behind-the-scenes look at how her WWE ring name came to be — and revealed that she didn’t actually choose it.
Bayley explained that during her time in NXT, talent were required to submit lists of potential ring names. She wanted something gender-neutral to stand out.
“I didn’t choose Bayley, I remember in NXT, you have to give a list of names. I wanted to use a unisex name because I felt nobody was really doing that. So I gave a list of unisex names, I don’t believe I chose Bayley, I don’t think that was on there.”
When WWE got back to her, the suggested names were… unexpected.
“But when they gave me my names back there was like a list of three different names. One was Bailey, one was Davia, no N, not Davina, just Davia. I was like ‘That’s not even a name.’ They were trying to help me out and get me close to my indie name.”
Bayley went to Rob Naylor, a key figure in NXT at the time and Dusty Rhodes’ right-hand man, to ask if she could submit another list.
“I said ‘I don’t really care for these, can I send in another list?’ He’s like ‘I’m not supposed to tell you but they want to put you on TV this week, so you need to choose one of these or you have to wait,’ so I was like ‘Okay, I choose Bailey!’”
One last adjustment made the name feel like her own.
“They spelled it B-A-I, so I said ‘Can I just have B-A-Y because I’m from the Bay Area.’ Lyra (Valkyria) makes fun of me, I don’t know why she thinks that’s so funny.”
And with that tweak, Bayley officially became Bayley — a name she has carried through multiple eras, championships, and one of the most successful WWE careers of her generation.
