Bruno Mars real name is Peter Gene Hernandez. He was born on October 8, 1985, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to parents Peter Hernandez and Bernadette San Pedro Bayot. His father is of half Puerto Rican and half Ashkenazi Jewish descent, originally from Brooklyn, New York, while his mother emigrated from the Philippines to Hawaii as a child and was of Filipino and some Spanish ancestry. Bruno Mars adopted his stage name from the childhood nickname his father gave him, adding "Mars" at the end because he felt like he didnt have any pizzazz, and a lot of girls say hes out of this world, so he was like he guessed hes from Mars. Moreover, the adoption of his stage name was also an effort to "avoid being stereotyped," as the music industry tried to pigeonhole him as another Latin artist.