You probably grew up calling him Prince Adam. Most of us did. You see it on lunchboxes, in trivia games, and across the endless scrolls of Disney fan forums. But if you sit down and watch the 1991 classic Beauty and the Beast from start to finish, you’ll notice something kind of jarring.
Nobody ever says his name. Not once.
Not Belle, not Lumiere, not even the narrator in that stained-glass prologue. He’s just "the Beast" or "the Master." Honestly, for a guy who is supposedly one of the most famous Disney princes in history, he’s remarkably anonymous.
So, where the heck did Adam Beauty and the Beast come from? If it’s not in the movie, is it even real?
The Myth of the Name Adam
The truth is that "Adam" is what you’d call "licensed fanon." It’s a name that snuck into the ecosystem through the back door. The most cited "official" source is a 1998 PC game called The D Show. It was a trivia game where one of the questions explicitly labeled the Beast as Prince Adam.
Once that happened, the floodgates opened.
It started showing up on merchandise. You'd find it on the back of doll boxes or on plaques at Disney World resorts. Fans latched onto it because calling a romantic lead "Beast" for the rest of his life feels a little mean, right? "Hey Beast, can you pass the salt?" doesn't exactly scream happily ever after.
👉 See also: When Was Kai Cenat Born? What You Didn't Know About His Early Life
But here is the kicker: the actual creators of the film—the people who spent years drawing his fur and his blue eyes—don't recognize it.
What the Animators Say
Glen Keane, the legendary supervising animator who literally brought the character to life, has been pretty vocal about this. He’s stated in multiple interviews that during production, they never gave the Prince a name. They were so focused on his transformation and his primal nature that a human name just wasn't on the priority list.
Keane once joked that the only name they ever used for him in the studio was "The Beast."
"We never gave him a name. He was just the Beast. I wish he could have stayed the Beast, actually." — Glen Keane
Even the voice of Belle herself, Paige O’Hara, has mentioned that while she calls him Adam because that’s what the fans like, Disney officially tends to push back. If you ask a high-level Disney archivist today, they will likely tell you his name is simply "The Prince."
Why the Name Adam Stuck Anyway
So why is the internet obsessed with Adam Beauty and the Beast?
✨ Don't miss: Anjelica Huston in The Addams Family: What You Didn't Know About Morticia
Basically, it's a "Mandela Effect" situation. Because the name appeared in a few licensed products in the late 90s, it became part of the collective consciousness. It feels right. It sounds like a prince's name. It has that biblical "First Man" energy that fits a character returning to humanity.
Plus, people need something to type into Google.
If you're writing fanfiction or looking for a specific doll, "The Prince" is too vague. You'll get Prince Eric, Prince Phillip, or Prince Charming. "Adam" gives him an identity that the movie technically denied him.
The 2017 Live-Action Confusion
When the live-action remake starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens came out, fans expected a definitive answer. Surely, they’d finally say the name out loud?
Nope.
The 2017 film doubles down on the namelessness. Dan Stevens even mentioned in interviews that he was confused by the whole thing. He’d heard the name Adam his whole life, but when he got the script, it wasn't there. He’s just "The Prince" in the credits. Again.
🔗 Read more: Isaiah Washington Movies and Shows: Why the Star Still Matters
It seems Disney prefers the mystery. Or maybe they just like the irony of a man who lost his humanity also losing the most basic human trait: a name.
The "Adam" Timeline: How the Name Traveled
If you're trying to track how this name conquered the world, look at these weirdly specific milestones:
- 1991: The movie is released. He is 100% nameless.
- 1998: The D Show (CD-ROM game) identifies him as Adam. This is the "patient zero" of the name.
- Early 2000s: The name starts appearing on Mattel toy packaging and in Disney-themed trivia books.
- 2010s: The "Royal Rooms" at Disney's Port Orleans Resort include a plaque that references "Prince Adam."
- Today: Most Disney wikis list it as his name, but usually with a giant asterisk saying "not technically canon."
Does It Actually Matter?
Kinda, but also not really.
The core of the story isn't about what’s on his birth certificate. It’s about the fact that he was such a jerk that an enchantress decided he didn't deserve to look human anymore. Whether you call him Adam, the Prince, or "that guy with the library," the narrative beat remains the same.
However, for the purists, sticking to "The Prince" is the only way to stay factually accurate to the 1991 film. If you want to be "correct" at your next Disney trivia night, you should probably mention that Adam is a name used by merchandise, not the filmmakers.
What You Should Do Next
If you're a collector or a hardcore fan, don't throw away your "Prince Adam" merch. It's a fascinating look at how a character can evolve outside of their own movie.
- Watch the credits: Next time you stream the movie on Disney+, look at the very end. You'll see "Beast" or "Prince," but you won't see Adam.
- Check your old toys: If you have 90s-era Beauty and the Beast toys, check the fine print on the boxes. You might find one of the rare instances where the name was actually printed.
- Embrace the fanon: It's okay to call him Adam! Just know that you're technically participating in a thirty-year-long game of "Telephone" that started with a computer game in 1998.
Ultimately, the namelessness of the Beast is part of his tragedy. He was forgotten by his kingdom, and in a way, he was forgotten by his own writers. That’s a much deeper story than just being a guy named Adam.