Zendaya’s name is known by pretty much everyone at this point, but the superstar actor is a big proponent of keeping her professional and personal lives separate. That’s why she didn’t make a big announcement after getting quietly engaged to Tom Holland at the end of 2024, and it’s also why she has yet to confirm if she’s secretly married to him (even though Holland did recently spill the beans). Holland also seemingly revealed another adorable detail about the couple’s private life, referring to his partner by a specific name that she immediately responded to.
Due to the privacy around their relationship, fans mostly get to see Zendaya and Holland interact during press runs for their Spider-Man movies, where they’re obviously in professional mode. But a casual moment did slip through when the couple appeared at the Spider-Man: Brand New Day premiere in Rome on June 23. While Holland and Zendaya were speaking to separate red carpet interviewers, Holland took a moment to shout over the crowd and ask his partner the name of the restaurant they’d be eating at after the event. What made the video stand out was the name Holland used for Zendaya: Maree.
The comfortable moment seemed to confirm what Holland calls Zendaya when they are relaxing at home together or hanging out with close friends and family. Maree is Zendaya’s middle name — her full name is Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman, but she became known monomously as Zendaya. In 2016, she revealed dropping her other names was an aesthetic choice to emulate the great artists she admires: “I just thought it was cool, like Cher or Prince.”
While Zendaya rarely uses her other names professionally, her 2021 movie Malcolm & Marie hinted at the significance of the actor’s middle name. The film was written and directed by her Euphoria collaborator Sam Levinson, who named Zendaya’s character Marie as a nod to her less public persona.
“She was written for me,” Zendaya said while promoting Malcolm & Marie in 2021. “She was also written to the woman that I am and to the woman that I’m becoming.”
