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| Cookie Empire Gifs |
Last week’s episode of Empire had viewers wondering many things: Just how nutso is Ainka right now? Is Rhonda’s baby bump ever going to show up? And most of all: What on earth is Cookie Lyon’s real first name?
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| Cookie Lyon Real Name |
In the final moments of “My Bad Parts,” Vivica A. Fox showed up as Cookie’s sister Candace by shouting “Loretha!” throughout the after-party.
And Loretha is actually Cookie’s given name. According to several sources around the internet, her maiden name is Holloway. According to eBabyNames, Loretha comes from the word “laurel,” and “In ancient Rome, a crown of laurel leaves was given to victors as a sign of their achievement.” It sounds like Cookie, ahem Loretha was always meant to be queen of an empire.
So how did Loretha Holloway get the nickname Cookie? Loretha and Cookie don’t seem to have any immediate connection. Was Cookie obsessed with cookies like Cookie Monster from Sesame Street? (I wouldn’t blame her — they are yummy.) Was there a childhood mishap that tied Loretha with cookies/the nickname Cookie forever? Was Cookie her stage name? Perhaps family members thought she was one “tough cookie.” And maybe Cookie was not into being named Loretha at all.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we do find out the origin of Cookie’s nickname this season. “My Bad Parts” gave us the origin of the surname “Lyon,” which Lucious picked for himself when he decided to abandon his former name: Dwight Walker. “Lyon” was a sign he slept under when he was sleeping on the streets as a homeless young boy.