Joan Rivers has been dead for 12 years, but her iconic name still lives on.
The late comedian, who died on September 4, 2014, changed her name from Joan Alexandra Molinsky to Joan Rivers decades ago.
Now, her daughter, Melissa Rivers, is sharing an insight into her mom's moniker, revealing that no one in the family is sure how Joan picked her new last name.
"A lot of people ask me where the name Rivers comes from. And I'm going to tell you the true and official story," Melissa said on Instagram earlier this week. "We're not really sure."
Melissa said that Joan once told her: "It was the last name of one of her managers, or that one of her managers suggested it. And it just sounded good and stuck. So there's the big story."
© Getty ImagesIn 2007, Joan explained to the Television Academy that she changed her name to Joan Rivers "because I wanted to be an actress."
She added: "I thought, 'Just get me some work, I'll change my name.' The first agent that sent me out was a man named Larry Rivers and I said, 'Okay I'm Joan Rivers.'"
Joan passed away at the age of 81, as revealed in a statement by Melissa at the time. "It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers," she began.
© Getty Images"She passed peacefully at 1:17pm surrounded by family and close friends. My son and I would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff of Mount Sinai Hospital for the amazing care they provided for my mother.
"Cooper and I have found ourselves humbled by the outpouring of love, support, and prayers we have received from around the world. They have been heard and appreciated."
She concluded: "My mother's greatest joy in life was to make people laugh. Although that is difficult to do right now, I know her final wish would be that we return to laughing soon."
© Getty ImagesJoan had been on life support for almost a week at Mount Sinai Hospital after she stopped breathing and suffered a cardiac arrest during surgery on her vocal cords at a nearby private clinic.
She had been moved out of intensive care and taken off life support on September 4, 2014, where she was "kept comfortable" in a private room in the hospital.
An actress, writer, producer, and TV host of the incredibly successful Fashion Police, Joan's career began in the late 1950s. She starred in several plays in New York, and by the '60s, she had featured with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show.
© FilmMagicOver the following decades, she began to make a name for herself on various variety and comedy shows, and by the '80s had become a regular on The Tonight Show, where she honed her particular style of comedy, which involved poking fun at celebrities and also herself.
A pioneer, Joan's confrontational, confessional, and often aggressive comedic style riled many but provided a pathway for other female stand-ups to emerge and go toe-to-toe with male comics.
