Sasha and Malia. Those two names go together like butter and bread.
For eight years, they were America's first daughters while their father,
Barack Obama, served as president. Now, each of them is a college student:
Older sister Malia attends Harvard University where their father went to law school,
while younger sister Sasha chose the Midwest for college, attending the University of Michigan.
Americans will know Sasha Obama as the adorable little girl cheering on her father
when he became the first African-American ever elected to the United States presidency
in 2008. Some might even remember her from a very important trip to Washington in 2004,
when she attended her father's swearing-in as senator at just
3 years old. Indeed, Sasha Obama has been in the American consciousness for
most of her life — oddly enough, however, many people don't even know her real name.
Natasha Marian Obama was born in Chicago on June 10th, 2001. Her parents nicknamed her
Sasha for short. Her middle name, Marian, is for her grandmother Marian Robinson — Michelle Obama's
mother — who lived with the family in the White House during Barack Obama's eight years in office.
"It's a testament to Michelle, and my mother-in-law, that they have
just turned out to be incredible kids. I could not be prouder."
Although the family suffered through a meningitis scare with Sasha before she was ever thrown into
the global spotlight, she grew up healthy. As a child, she attended preschool at The
University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and then Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C.
Most of the public didn't realize her name was really Natasha until she was 15
and out of the White House. The teen started working at Nancy's seafood restaurant on Martha's
Vineyard for the summer in 2016 and used her real name on her paperwork. Much of the staff
didn't even know who she was when she worked there, although they doubtless wondered why
men in suits were always following her around. Those men, of course, were the Secret Service
agents assigned to protect the young woman — whose code name was reportedly “Rosebud.”
When news broke that Sasha Obama's actual first name was Natasha,
many took to social media to express their surprise. One Twitter user wrote:
"I can't believe Obama was in office for 8 years and
I'm just now finding out Sasha Obama's real name is Natasha."
Another tweeted:
"Where were you when you found out Sasha Obama's name is really Natasha Obama?
Me? Wikipedia, [New York], June 12, 2016."
And yet another Twitter user went all-caps with their amazement, writing:
"WAIT A DAMN MINUTE. WHO IS NATASHA OBAMA?"
Whether going by Natasha or Sasha, President Obama's youngest daughter had to deal with a
very relatable problem in 2020. Colleges began closing and classes went virtual thanks to the
coronavirus pandemic, and like so many other parents, Michelle Obama wasn't at all prepared.
Former president and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama dropped their younger
daughter off to begin college life in 2019. When Sasha Obama started her fall semester,
Michelle felt the way most mothers feel at that momentous time in life, telling People magazine:
"It was of course a little emotional to drop Sasha
off at college. [...] It's an adjustment to see each other for a weekend here,
a holiday break there, but the moments we do spend together feel extra special because of it."
However, it wasn't long before Sasha was back with her parents. In 2020,
when the world shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, Michelle told People magazine:
"Our girls were supposed to have emptied out of my nest. I was sort of celebrating that they were out
building their lives and allowing me the emotional space to let them go. Well, they're back!"
Michelle didn't let that time go to waste, however,
and apparently got to know both Sasha and her sister Malia on a whole new level.
The girls also decided to try out a range of new hobbies while quarantining with their parents,
and they even learned to cook. Maybe Sasha found a good use for the skills she learned
during that summer restaurant job — the time so many people learned her real name.