Why Ariana Grande Is Credited as Ariana Grande-Butera for the Wicked: For Good Films

23 November 2025

Ariana Grande in "Wicked: For Good". Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

In a deeply personal choice for the upcoming musical film sequel, Ariana Grande elected to use her full legal name Ariana Grande-Butera in the on-screen credits for both Wicked: Part One and Wicked: For Good. The decision marks more than a mere crediting tweak: it is a symbolic gesture connecting the performer’s childhood ambitions, family identity and the very role she plays as Glinda in the film.

Grande explained in a 2024 interview that being credited with the full name felt like coming “home to little Ari” the young girl who first saw the stage version of Wicked when she was ten years old and carried that experience in her memory. She noted that “Grande” comes from her mother’s name, Joan Grande, and “Butera” from her father, Edward Butera, whose divorce impacted her childhood. Για Grande the juxtaposition of names taps into her roots, her teenage self and the moment when her passion for performance was ignited.

In tracing her reasoning, Grande described the role of Glinda as a homecoming: it allowed her to reconcile the public persona she had developed with the private dreams she once held. She said, “That was my name when I went to see the show … and it felt like a really lovely way of honouring that.” The emphasis on 'little Ari' signals that this credit choice is less about industry branding and more about the performer reclaiming a piece of her identity in full-circle fashion.

However, it is not a permanent change to her professional name. For her upcoming projects including the comedy sequel The Focker-In-Law, her role in American Horror Story, and the animated feature Oh, the Places You’ll Go! she retains the credit “Ariana Grande.” The selective use of “Grande-Butera” suggests that the name serves a specific narrative purpose in the context of the Wicked films rather than signalling a wholesale shift in branding.

Industry watchers interpret the choice as a smart alignment of public identity and character narrative. Grande’s Glinda is a figure of transformation, self-realisation and return — themes mirrored by the actress herself. By using her full name for this particular role, Grande links the arc of the character with her own personal journey. It signals to audiences that this film means something different to her.

For her father, Edward Butera, who had been estranged for years, the moment was especially poignant. Grande said he became emotional when he first saw the credit, recognising that his surname appeared alongside hers for the first time on a major-studio motion picture. The gesture becomes a nod to family reconciliation, heritage and the sense of a circle closing.

From a marketing standpoint the decision also adds depth to the Wicked press campaign. Fans of the musical already understand that the story explores identity, defiance, friendship and belonging; giving Grande the full credit reinforces that the film is both large spectacle and personal milestone for the actress. Publicists and branding experts will agree that authenticity drives connection and this credit choice aligns neatly with that strategy.

Nevertheless, the decision is not without risk. In a star-driven project where branding and name recognition matter, deviating from her well-known stage name might have created confusion or diluted her star power. But the fact that Grande and her team chose to make the change only for these films suggests a calculated balance respecting both legacy branding and personal meaning.

For audiences, the gesture may go unnoticed in raw box-office figures, but for cultural critics and fans, it offers a richer context to understand Grande’s engagement with the role and how she sees her career evolving. She described acting as her current main focus, even as she reassures fans that music remains part of her life. Choosing who you are called in credits may seem subtle, yet it becomes one of the few places where an actor asserts authorship over their public identity.

In the end, Ariana Grande’s choice to use “Grande-Butera” for Wicked becomes more than a footnote in the credits. It is a quiet declaration of self, a nod to childhood, a reclamation of roots and an alignment of art and identity. For an artist whose career spans pop superstardom, television roles and now major-motion-picture musicals, the decision marks a moment when the stage lights illuminate not just a character’s journey, but the performer’s.