Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known by her stage name Lorde (/ˈlɔrd/), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Devonport, Auckland, she performed in various singing and drama classes as a child, and at the age of thirteen signed with Universal. Yelich-O'Connor adopted her stage name due to her fascination with "royals and aristocracy", but felt the name Lord was too masculine so added an 'e' to make it more feminine.