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Prince Gave Nicole Richie a Dog with a Name That Captured His Unique Sense of Humor

Perhaps he was inspired by the "Love Theme from Purple Rain."

By Christopher Rudolph

Every kid remembers their first dog, but not every kid was given their first dog by one of the biggest pop stars of all time.

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On April 9, Nicole Richie swung by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and conversation turned to Nicole's famous father, Lionel Richie. Because of her dad, Nicole grew up around other music superstars, including Prince, who Nicole revealed gave her her first dog.

As Host Jimmy Fallon noted as Nicole sat down, The Simple Life star likes to bring up her pets — with exotic names like Tiger Lily Sprinkle Winx and Lavender Bumblebee — when she comes by The Tonight Show, and this time was no different. After reminiscing about buying rats with Paris Hilton, and eventually moving onto ferrying ferrets across state lines, Nicole told the story of how her first dog was given to her by Prince, and he bestowed the dog an unusual name.

"Prince got me my first dog. I remember because the dog's name was God," said Nicole. "I did not name the dog, obviously. I was very young. I was around four, but that was my first dog."

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Nicole Richie on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Episode 1958

You'll never guess the name Prince gave Nicole Richie's first dog

Perhaps Prince named the dog after his track, "God." That just so happens to be the name of the instrumental version of the "Love Theme from Purple Rain," parts of which featured in the hit 1984 film.

Nicole wasn't the only celeb to bring up the "Raspberry Beret" singer on The Tonight Show episode. Conan O'Brien, who made his historic return to The Tonight Show stage the same night, swapped stories with Jimmy about their memorable encounters with Prince.

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"He had this sort of trickster thing about him," Conan told Jimmy during his interview. "He was almost like a Batman villain who was perfect-looking, but also playing little mind games on you in a fun way."

"He was a magical, magical man," he added.