James Gatz changes his name to Jay Gatsby

Nick reveals Gatsby's true origins: he was born James Gatz to shiftless farm parents in North Dakota. At seventeen, he changed his name to Jay Gatsby, a Platonic conception of himself as a son of God. The name change occurred at the moment he saw Dan Cody's yacht drop anchor on Lake Superior. Gatsby rowed out to warn Cody of a storm, and Cody took him on as a protégé, beginning Gatsby's transformation.