The True Story Behind Beyoncé’s “Beyincé” Sash

No, Beyoncé has not changed her name to Beyincé. Just a day after revealing the striking album art of her upcoming album Cowboy Carter, the singer shared a limited-edition cover on Instagram. The new artwork shows her smoking a cigar and posing naked as if she were the Statue of Liberty, covered by only a red, white, and blue ruffled sash.

Bey proudly wears a sash that reads “act ii,” nodding to Cowboy Carter following Renaissance as the second part of her three-act project, and “Beyincé.” Yes, you read that correctly.

Some fans were confused by what seemed like a misspelling of Beyoncé’s name. But what looks like a typo is actually a completely intentional reference that is loaded with family history.

Who Is Beyincé?

In case you didn’t know, the singer is named after her mother, Tina Knowles, whose maiden name is Beyoncé. “My name was Celestine Beyoncé, which at that time was not a cool thing to have that weird name,” she said in a 2020 episode of the In My Heart With Heather Thomson podcast. “I wanted my name to be Linda Smith because those were the cool names.”

While Knowles’ maiden name was spelled with an O on legal documents, most of her relatives have a version of the same surname that was spelled with an I instead on their birth certificates — all due to a clerical error. “I think me and my brother Skip were the only two that had B-E-Y-O-N-C-E,” she said.

One day, Knowles asked her mother why their family members had different spellings of their last name, which revealed the heartbreaking reason why she wasn’t able to change it.

“My mom’s reply to me was like, ‘That’s what they put on your birth certificate,’” she recalled. “So I said, ‘Well, why didn’t you argue and make them correct it?’ And she said, ‘I did one time. The first time, I was told be happy that you’re getting a birth certificate. Because, at one time, Black people didn’t get birth certificates.’”

As a result, Knowles’ relatives use the last name “Beyincé” to this day, including her nephew Larry and niece Angie. Fans may recognize the latter as an actor and co-writer of Bey’s early hits, including “Naughty Girl” and “Get Me Bodied.”

As Bey explores the Black roots of country music on Cowboy Carter, she’s reclaiming her own family history in the process, and turning a potential injustice into a powerful statement of identity.

The limited-edition cover of Cowboy Carter is available to pre-order only on Beyoncé’s website in several CD and vinyl variants, all of which match the all-American red, white, and blue aesthetic. Each variant is complete with an exclusive bonus track and a different back cover.