My name

Forgive this rather silly, “fan” question. Is your name a “nom de plume” or are you, in fact, of Sicilian heritage?

Tristan Taormino is my real name, given to me at birth by my parents. Thanks Mom and Dad for such a cool name. I don’t have a middle name. As for my ethnicity, I get that question a lot. Taormino is the name of my step-grandfather, who adopted my father as a child and changed his name. My paternal grandfather’s last name was Clancy. Thus, I am Irish (his dad) and Italian (his mom) on my dad’s side of the family and Irish/English on my mom’s side.