5 lesser-known facts about Miley Cyrus

66th GRAMMY Awards - Show — A still of Miley Cyrus (Image via Getty)

Miley Cyrus currently is, and has been for quite a while, one of the most popular people on the planet. The actress and singer rose to prominence as the lead character in the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana and followed it up with a brilliant music career.

While most fans already know and speculate so much about the famed musician and actress, there are still certain things about Miley Cyrus that may come to many fans as surprising or amusing.

Here are five such lesser-known facts about the 31-year-old artist.

Five lesser-known facts about Miley Cyrus that you did not know

1) Miley received her name because she smiled a lot as a child

Born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992, it was not always that the musician was known as Miley. Rather, it was born out of a childhood trait she had. Her current name, Miley, came from her childhood nickname "Smiley," which was given to her because she smiled too much.

She legally changed her name to Miley in honor of her grandfather in 2008.

2) Before Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus worked in her father's production, Doc

Before becoming renowned around the world with Disney's Hannah Montana, Miley did appear on screen before. When Cyrus was eight, her family moved to Toronto as her father was involved in the television show, Doc, a medical drama.

This was also the time she first acted on screen, something that she continued to pursue for the rest of her life. This was also the series that made the youngster realize that she wanted to be in this line. She enrolled in singing and acting lessons at the Armstrong Acting Studio in Toronto, and that eventually led her to Disney fame.

3) Miley Cyrus also appeared in a Tim Burton movie long before anyone knew her

A still of Miley Cyrus (Image via Getty)

Apart from Doc, Cyrus also appeared in another big movie, Big Fish, by Tim Burton. Miley was credited under her birth name in this movie. She played the role of young Ruthie in the movie.

Following this, she also auditioned in the feature film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D but did not ultimately go for the role as she got into Hannah Montana.

4) Miley Cyrus has a medical condition called tachycardia

Cyrus was born with a condition called supraventricular tachycardia, which causes abnormal resting heart rate. Thankfully, this is a non-life-threatening condition, which only causes abnormally fast heartbeats.

While this disorder can be threatening at times, Cyrus revealed that the variation she has is not in any way a threat to her life.

5) Legendary singer Dolly Parton is Miley Cyrus's godmother

Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton (Image via Getty)

Apart from celebrity parents, Miley also has the legendary Dolly Parton as her godmother. Parton is widely considered one of the greatest female country singers of all time. In her decades-long career, she has also collaborated with Miley's father, Billy Ray Cyrus. This is the reason Cyrus made her the godmother of his child.

Explaining how she came to be the famous pop star's godmother, Dolly Parton explained on Sirius XM’s The Howard Stern Show that she got close to Billy in 1992 while promoting her single Achy Breaky Heart.

She said—

"We just got to be good friends because he’s a Kentucky boy, I’m from Tennessee...And he said … ‘We’re having a girl, and you’ve got to be her godmother!’ And I said, ‘Well, I’d be honored.’ So actually, Miley and I took over from there. We just stayed very, very close through the years."

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