“‘There are silent Gs.'”
“[Lawrence] was my middle name,” Joey Lawrence said.
“So I was named after our dad, and our grandfather on our dad’s side.
Joey Lawrence and Matthew Lawrence at 90s Con 2025.Credit:Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock
And in the early ’80s, it was like, ‘No one can pronounce Mignogna.
That’s not a name people will say.'”
TheBlossomstar added that he probably wouldn’t have to change his name if he were starting out now.
Andrew Lawrence, Matthew Lawrence, and Joey Lawrence at 90s Con in Daytona Beach in 2024.Gerardo Mora/Getty
“Today, things like that are celebrated,” he said.
“In the ’80s, it was like, ‘We’re going to need to water this down.
There are silent Gs.’
Because you spell our last name [Mignogna] like filet mignon.’
So they were like, ‘Let’s call him Joey Lawrence.’
So that’s just what they did, and with these guys it just made sense.”
That was a great thing."
“It would have made it easier,” Andrew Lawrence said.
“It’s really a pain in the butt, honestly, having two names.
You have to prove you’re both people.”
Gerardo Mora/Getty
Matthew added that his double-naming has caused him trouble.
But really, my name is Matthew William Mignogna.
So when I grew up and used my real name on my passport, there was absolutely no correlation.
I didn’t exist."
Later in the panel, Joey explained why his siblings are his favorite costars on set.
If you’re having a bad day, you’re having a good day there’s such consistency."
“There’s such a chemistry and camaraderie and forgiveness, patience,” he said.
All that stuff is pretty great."
