Blackpink's Lisa changed her name for good luck and it worked

Lisa, who is of Thai descent, was named Pranpriya Manobal when she was born. Photo: Lisa/Instagram

K-pop girl group Blackpink's Lisa has revealed that her fortunes might have been very different if she had stuck with her birth name.

The 24-year-old, who is of Thai descent and grew up in Thailand, was named Pranpriya Manobal, meaning beloved soul, when she was born but changed it to Lalisa on the advice of a fortune teller when she was about 13.

That was when she had auditioned with YG Entertainment, Blackpink's management agency, to become a trainee.

"We made an audition for YG, but YG didn't contact us back. We really wanted to get it," she said in an interview with Billboard recently, referring to herself and her mum.

"So the fortune teller said, 'You should change your name'. The week after I changed my name, YG called me back and said, "You should come (be a trainee)". I was like, 'Wow!'"

She was the only one selected out of 4,000 applicants and trained for five years before making her debut with the other three members of Blackpink.

Lalisa, which refers to one who is praised, features significantly in her debut solo effort released last Friday (Sept 10), as the title track is named after it.

"At first I was like, "Whaaa... I think it's kind of weird to keep repeating my name. How's it going to sound?" And then we tried it, and it came out so cool. I really like it," she said.

She added: "It's very funny, weeks ago, one of the cameramen asked me, 'What is Lalisa?'

"I was like, 'It's my name'. People don't really know that Lalisa is my real name, because they just know me as Lisa from Blackpink. So I'm really happy that I get to do this project with the title Lalisa." – The Straits Times/Asia News Network