1992–2005: Early life and career beginnings

Destiny Hope Cyrus was born November 23, 1992, in Franklin, Tennessee,
[9]
 to Leticia "Tish" Jean Finley and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Her parents
married the year following her birth.[9] Cyrus was born with supraventricular
tachycardia, a condition causing an abnormal resting heart rate. [10] Her birth name,
Destiny Hope, expressed her parents' belief that she would accomplish great
things. Her parents nicknamed her "Smiley", which they later shortened to "Miley",
because she often smiled as an infant.[11] In 2008, she legally changed her name to
Miley Ray Cyrus; her middle name honors her
grandfather, Democratic politician Ronald Ray Cyrus from Kentucky.
[12]
 Cyrus's godmother is entertainer Dolly Parton.[13]
Against the advice of her father's record company, [14] Cyrus' parents secretly
married on December 28, 1993, a year after her birth. [15] They had two more
children together, son Braison and daughter Noah.[16] From previous relationships,
her mother has two other children, Brandi and Trace.[17] Her father's first child,
Christopher Cody, was born in April 1992[15] and grew up with his mother, Kristin
Luckey, in South Carolina.[14]
All of Cyrus' maternal siblings are established entertainers. Trace is a vocalist and
guitarist for the electronic pop band Metro Station.[18] Noah is an actress and, along
with Braison, models, singers, and songwriters. [19][20][21][22][23] Brandi was formerly a
musician for the indie rock band Frank + Derol[24][25] and is a professional DJ. The
Cyrus farmhouse is located on 500 acres of land outside Nashville, Tennessee. [26]
Cyrus attended Heritage Elementary School in Williamson County, when her family
lived in Thompson's Station, Tennessee.[27] When she was cast in Hannah
Montana, the family moved to Los Angeles, where she attended Options for Youth
Charter Schools[28] and studied with a private tutor on set. [29] Raised Christian, she
was baptized in a Southern Baptist church before moving to Hollywood in 2005.
[30]
 She attended church regularly while growing up and wore a purity ring.[31] In
2001, when Cyrus was eight, she and her family moved to Toronto, Canada while
her father filmed the television series Doc.[32] After Billy Ray took her to see a
2001 Mirvish production of Mamma Mia! at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Cyrus
grabbed his arm and told him, "This is what I want to do, daddy. I want to be an
actress."[33] She began singing and acting lessons at the Armstrong Acting Studio
in Toronto.[34]
Cyrus' debut acting role was portraying a girl named Kylie in her father's television
series Doc.[11] In 2003, Cyrus received credit under her birth name for her role as
"Young Ruthie" in Tim Burton's Big Fish.[35] During this period, she auditioned
with Taylor Lautner for the feature film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in
3-D. Although she was one of two finalists for the role, she chose to appear
in Hannah Montana instead.[36]
Her mother took on the role of Miley's manager and worked to acquire a team to
build her daughter's career.[37] Cyrus signed with Mitchell Gossett, director of the
youth division at Cunningham Escott Slevin Doherty. [38] Gossett is often credited
with "discovering" Cyrus and played a key role in her auditioning for Hannah
Montana.[39] She later signed with Jason Morey of Morey Management Group to
handle her music career, having been directed to him by Dolly Parton. [37] She hired
her father's finance manager as part of her team.