LOS ANGELES: Actress Carmen Electra has submitted paperwork to legally change her name to her stage moniker.

The 51-year-old actress was born Tara Leigh Patrick but adopted her stage name on the advice of late singer Prince and she's now taking legal steps to keep the moniker she is familiar to millions as.

According to RadarOnline.com, the 'Baywatch' star filed legal documents applying to have the name used on her government documents and all other important paperwork on 29 December, 2023, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Carmen previous how she first met the 'Purple Rain' singer when she auditioned for a female group he was putting together, and though she wasn't chosen, she was stunned to receive a phone call afterwards, in which Prince offered to give her a song she'd written - but urged her to change her name.

She told OWN: "I received a call from Prince saying I think you should be your own artist and not back up anyone else. I'm going to write you a song and if you like it, you can record it.

"The name of the song was 'Carmen on Top.' My name is Tara, so I was confused. I loved the song. I loved it, but he said, 'You're not a Tara. You're not Tara. You're Carmen."

The 'Scary Movie' star was happy to give up "control" to her mentor.