BBC Breakfast Naga Munchetty admits it could be 'easier' as she discusses real name

BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty has been a fixture on the programme since 2009, but viewers are only just discovering that Naga isn't her actual name.

Born in 1975, Naga was raised in Streatham, south London, though her mum originally came from Tamil Nadu in India, whilst her father relocated to the UK from Mauritius.

Her parents encountered each other whilst both were studying in Wales, and married in London just a year before Naga's birth, without informing either set of their parents.

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English served as their common language, so during Naga's childhood it was consistently the language used at home.

Naga - who recently shared her honest thoughts on her BBC Breakfast role - didn't visit India until she reached eight years old to meet her grandparents, and subsequently travelled to Mauritius for the first time at age 12, reports the Express.

The BBC star has expressed her thoughts on anglicised names during a chat with The Guardian, revealing that her mum Muthu previously went by Michelle.

She explained: "Names are so important, identity is so important. Once when I was a child, a woman called my mum Michelle. I said, 'Why are you calling her that?' and she said 'It's her name'.

"I said, 'No, it's not, her name is Muthu'. It made me think, that's a difficult thing to have to deal with. It's like losing your identity. But it's what used to happen, immigrants anglicising their names."

And Naga's actual name? It's Subha Nagalakshmi Munchetty-Chendriah.

She quipped to the publication: "Can you imagine spelling that for people when you're a small child at school?

"But my mother started calling me Naga, because it means cobra and she dreamed of snakes when she was pregnant.

"I've always hated the name and for a while I thought about changing it to Nadia. In some ways, I wish I had."