Alvarez

Erik Austin
Apr 28
2 min read

For those of you who don’t know, my real last name isn’t Austin—it’s Alvarez. I heard recently that Joey Lawrence—yes, that Joey Lawrence—shared the story behind his name. His real last name is Mignogna, but when he got into show business, he started using his middle name, Lawrence, because it was easier to pronounce and market. That really stuck with me because… my story isn’t all that different.

When I was at AMDA in New York, someone told me I didn’t “look ethnic” and suggested I think about using a stage name. I had always been an “A”—always first on the list, always near the top—so I wanted something that would still keep that placement. My classmates and I played around with names, but it was my friend Kristin who looked at me one day and said, “What about Austin?” It just clicked. It felt clean, strong, memorable. But more than that—it felt like a way forward.

When I got back from New York, I legally changed it. It felt like the right moment to fully become the version of myself I had been hiding for years—confident, open, and fully embracing my queerness, which I’d been teased and taunted for all throughout school.

And looking at the world now—with all the unique last names, open identities, and the celebration of queerness—it’s wild to see how far we’ve come. Things still aren’t perfect, and honestly, it’s scary to watch some of those freedoms start to be taken away. But for a moment, I’m just grateful I got to experience a version of the world where I could finally live as myself. That means something.