What does the 'J' stand for in singer Mary J. Blige's name?

Mary Jane Blige (born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, model, record producer and actress. Starting her career as a backing singer on Uptown Records in 1989, Blige released her first album, What's the 411?, in 1992, and has released 13 studio albums since and made over 150 guest appearances on other albums and soundtracks.

Blige was born on January 11, 1971, in The Bronx, New York, She is the second of four children born to mother Cora, a nurse, and second to father Thomas Blige, a jazz musician.

As of 2013, Blige has sold more than 50 million albums and 25 million singles worldwide. Billboard ranked Blige as the most successful female R&B artist of the past 25 years. In 2017, The magazine also lists her 2006 song "Be Without You" as the most successful R&B song of all times, as it spent an unparalleled 15 weeks atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and over 75 weeks on the chart. In 2011, VH1 ranked Blige as the 80th greatest artist of all time. Moreover, she is ranked number 100 on the list of "100 greatest singers of all time" by Rolling Stone magazine. In 2012, VH1 ranked Blige at number 9 in "The 100 Greatest Women in Music."