Stars Who Switched Names: Why and How?

Many famous people aren't known by their real names. Some changed them for career reasons, while others did it for personal ones. Let's look at why and how they did it. Reese Witherspoon's real name is Laura Jeanne Reese. She uses her middle name, Reese, as her first name. This surprised her friend Jennifer Aniston, who didn't know her real name until recently. Rihanna's real name is Robyn. She uses her middle name, Rihanna, as her first name. Her close family and friends still call her Robyn. Keke Palmer's real name is Lauren. She got her stage name, Keke, from her family. Her manager suggested she use it as her stage name, but she prefers to be called Lauren. Millie Bobby Brown's real middle name is Bonnie. She changed her stage name to Millie Bobby Brown for fun. She revealed this in an interview with Chris Pratt. Kat Dennings knew her real last name, Litwack, wouldn't work for her. She changed it to Dennings when she was nine years old. She stands by this decision. Brandon Sklenar's real last name is Feakins. He changed it to Sklenar, his mother's maiden name, because people always mispronounced Feakins. Emma Stone's real first name is Emily. She changed it to Emma because there was already another Emily Stone in the actors' union. She wishes she could be called Emily. Sam Neill's real first name is Nigel. He changed it to Sam because he was teased for his name. He and his best friend both changed their names to avoid being teased. Kirk Douglas's real name is Issur Danielovitch. He changed it to Kirk Douglas because his given name was too Jewish for Hollywood at the time. He wishes he had kept his original name. Jennifer Aniston's real last name is Anastassakis. Her father changed the family's last name to Aniston when he went into show business. Jon Bon Jovi's real name is John Francis Bongiovi Jr. He changed it to Bon Jovi because his band was named after him. He kept the name Bon Jovi as his stage name. Dove Cameron's real name is Chloe Celeste Hoffman. She changed her name to Dove as a tribute to her late father, who called her Dove. She responds to both names. John Legend's real name is John Roger Stephens. He got his stage name, John Legend, from a childhood nickname that stuck. More people in his circle know him by that name than by his real name. Meg Ryan's real name is Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra. She began using her grandmother's maiden name, Ryan, as a surname when she joined the Screen Actors Guild. Audrey Hepburn's real name is Edda van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston. Her name is shrouded in mystery, but sources agree that her mother was the Dutch baroness Ella van Heemstra and that her British father's surname was Ruston. Vin Diesel's real name is Mark Sinclair. He changed his name to Vin Diesel because he thought Mark Sinclair didn't sound tough enough. He got the nickname Diesel from friends who said he was always full of energy. Nicki Minaj's real name is Onika Tanya Maraj. She uses her middle name, Nicki, as her first name. She is a Trinidadian-born rapper. Calvin Harris's real name is Adam Richard Wiles. He changed his name to Calvin Harris because he thought it sounded more racially ambiguous. He is a Scottish musician. Martin Sheen's real name is Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez. He never legally changed his name but regrets not standing up for what he believed in. He is the son of a Spanish immigrant father and Irish mother. Charlie Sheen's real name is Carlos Irwin Estevez. He adopted his father's stage name, Martin Sheen, when he began acting. His siblings continue to use their Spanish last name, Estévez. Diane Keaton's real surname is Hall. She changed her surname to Keaton, her mother's maiden name, because there was another actress named Diane Hall in the Actors' Equity Association. Olivia Wilde's real last name is Cockburn. She legally changed her last name to Wilde as a tribute to Oscar Wilde, one of her favorite authors. Katy Perry's real name is Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson. She changed her name to Katy Perry so she wouldn't be confused with actress Kate Hudson. Perry is her mother's maiden name. Miley Cyrus legally changed her name from Destiny Hope to Miley Ray in 2008. She got her nickname "Smiley" from her childhood. Nina Dobrev shortened her name from Nikolina Konstantinova Dobreva. She is a Bulgarian actress. Jamie Foxx was born Eric Marlon Bishop but changed his name to the more gender-ambiguous Jamie Foxx during his stand-up days. He chose "Foxx" in honor of Sanford and Son star Redd Foxx. Joaquin Phoenix's parents changed the family's last name from Bottom to Phoenix in the late 1970s to represent a new beginning. Bruno Mars was born Peter Gene Hernandez. He got his nickname "Bruno" from his father, who nicknamed him after professional wrestler Bruno Sammartino. He added "Mars" because it sounded bigger than life. Michael Keaton had to change his last name from Douglas to Keaton to enter the actor's union since his birth name, Michael Douglas, was already taken by a future Academy Award-winning actor. Tom Cruise's birth name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV. He began using his middle name as a surname at the behest of an agent. Demi Moore was born Demetria Gene Guynes. She shortened her first name to just Demi. Her last name is a holdover from her first marriage to singer Freddy Moore. Whoopi Goldberg was born Caryn Elaine Johnson. She got her stage name "Whoopi" from the whoopee cushion. Goldberg is her mother's maiden name, which she opted to use in the hope of being taken more seriously. Marilyn Monroe went by several different monikers throughout her life. She was baptized Norma Jeane Baker, but the name on her birth certificate was Norma Jeane Mortenson. She didn't legally change her name to Marilyn Monroe until 1956. Alicia Keys changed her name from Alicia Augello Cook to reflect her love of music. She is a singer with impressive piano skills. Winona Ryder changed her last name from Horowitz when asked how she would like to have her name appear on the credits of her first role. She suggested Ryder as Mitch Ryder's album was playing in the background. Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight. He started going by the name Elton John in honor of two blues legends: saxophonist Elton Dean and singer Long John Baldry. He legally changed his name in May 1972, adding the middle name "Hercules. " Lily James was born Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson. She adopted the last name James in memory of her late father, James Thomson, who died of cancer in 2008.