If there’s a nickname, you know it’s real. Through the years, celebrity couple nicknames have become the easiest way to spot the hottest duos in Hollywood. While it’s hard to remember a time before celeb nicknames, such a day did exist. That is … until Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez came along.
When the Argo producer and Hustlers actress began dating in the early 2000s, the A-list romance caused so much excitement that the world had no choice but to put a label on their love. Thus, Bennifer was born.
Though the couple split in 2004 after a two-year engagement, they couldn’t let a title that good go to waste completely. In April 2021 — 17 years after the pair called it quits — rumors began to swirl that they’d reconnected.
“People close to [Lopez] won’t be surprised if they end up together,” a source told Us Weekly exclusively in May 2021, noting that the pair have “always loved each other.”
In light of the reconciliation news, Jersey Girl director Kevin Smith shared that he had coined their nickname way back when.
“‘Bennifer’ is trending. It’s a name I first gave the kids during Jersey Girl pre-production, before the world found out they were dating,” he wrote via Twitter in May 2021 after the former fiancés were spotted together in Montana. “I’d later drop the name in an interview with the @nytimes. Shortly thereafter, it appeared in the article and then entered the vernacular.”
Unfortunately, few nicknamed couples have stood the test of time. This phenomenon begs the question: is getting a couple nickname the kiss of death for a romance? Not according to Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, a.k.a. Speidi.
Throughout their decade-plus relationship, the Hills alums have totally embraced their moniker, going so far as to name their podcast “Make Speidi Famous Again” before later switching it to “The Speidi Podcast.”
After Us shared a story in May 2021 about celebrity couples who had broken up, the Colorado native noted that her romance was rock solid.
“A LOT of high-profile celeb couples have split up — and it’s only May,” Us tweeted. “Not Speidi,” Montag replied.
Scroll down to discover the greatest celeb couple nicknames through the years: