25 Celebs Whose REAL NAME You Didn’t Know!

 

25 Celebs Whose Real Name You Didn’t Know 25.

 John Legend

 “Legend” is an objectively cool last name.

 That’s probably why the Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and musician John Roger Stephens chose “John Legend” as his stage name.

 But that original family surname hasn’t gone to waste.

 Legend and his wife, fashion model Chrissy Teigen, welcomed their first child in April of 2016, naming her Luna Simone Stephens.

 24.

 Nicolas Cage

 Nicolas Cage comes from Hollywood Royalty.

 But you wouldn’t know that from his last name.

 His given name is Nicolas Kim Coppola.

 He is a member of the Coppola family: his uncle Francis Ford Coppola is the famous director and screenwriter of the Godfather movies while his cousin Sofia Coppola won an Academy award for Lost in Translation.

 He is also the nephew of actress Talia Shire and the cousin of actor Jason Schwartzman.

 Despite his extended family’s tremendous success in the film industry, Nicolas chose the last name Cage in order to set his work apart.

 23.

 Natalie Portman

 Natalie Portman first drew widespread recognition for her astonishing role as an orphaned child in the 1994 film Leon: The Professional.

 After rising to stardom in blockbusters like the Star Wars prequels and V for Vendetta, Portman won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the psychological thriller Black Swan.

 Despite her huge impact on popular culture, most people don’t know that her real name is Natalie Hershlag, that she was born in Jerusalem in 1981, or that she is the only child of an American mother and an Israeli father.

 Natalie changed her last name in honor of her grandmother whose maiden name was Portman.

 She has stated that the name change was made primarily to protect her immediate family’s privacy.

 22.

 Ice Cube

 The name “Ice Cube” would be a pretty original choice for a newborn.

 Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with this revolutionary of activist hip-hop.

 Born O’Shea Jackson, he chose the stage name “Ice Cube” based on a heated exchange from his youth in which his older brother threatened to slam him in the freezer and keep him there until he turned into an ice cube.

 After the birth of his son, O’Shea Jackson, Jr. (who portrayed Ice Cube in the film Straight Outta Compton) he went by the full name O’Shea Jackson, Sr. among close friends and family members.

 21.

 Chevy Chase

 The Saturday Night Live and National Lampoon veteran grew up in a wealthy, high-profile New York family, who named him Cornelius Crane Chase.

 He gave up a life of privilege to become a comedian and performer.

 As a child, his paternal grandmother gave him the nickname “Chevy.” One theory as to why she chose this name comes from the 1436 Battle of Cheviot Hills, in which the Douglas clan in Scotland repelled English forces.

 Chase himself has suggested that his grandmother simply took it from the name of the city Chevy Chase, Maryland.

 The first name “Cornelius” was given to him in honor of Cornelius Vanderbilt, a distant relative.

 20.

 Diane Keaton

 Diane Keaton’s real name is Diane Hall.

 Many of those close to her, including friends in the film industry, call her “Annie.” In the late 1970s, while re-structuring his thriller Anhedonia into a quick-witted romantic comedy, Woody Allen chose Keaton’s nickname and real surname as both the name of his character’s love interest and the title of the film itself.

 Annie Hall went on to win four Oscars, including Best Actress for Keaton.

 It’s also worth mentioning that Woody Allen’s real name is Allen Konigsberg.

 19.

 Fergie

 While her stage name is the same as the nickname of a British Royal, Grammy winner and Black Eyed Peas frontwoman Fergie reached her own level of royalty with the 2006 release of her solo album The Duchess.

 Her given name is actually Stacy Ann Ferguson, but in 2013, she filed paperwork to legally change her name to Fergie.

 18.

 Spike Lee

 The Academy Award nominee behind Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, as the oldest of four children.

 His full legal name is Shelton Jackson Lee.

 He started going by his nickname “Spike” when he began making student films in college.

 His association with the name is something he is known to take very seriously, even going as far as to sue Spike TV in 2003 for trademark infringement.

 17.

 Mel Brooks

 The filmmaker behind comedic masterpieces like The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein has a stage name synonymous with hilarity.

 His real name, however, is Melvin Kaminsky, which he said was causing people to confuse him with jazz trumpeter Max Kaminsky early on in his career.

 The last name “Brooks” was taken from Brookman, his mother’s maiden name.

 16.

 Cher

 Known to her fans as the “Goddess of Pop,” Cher’s accomplishments as an entertainer are so numerous that there are few people on the planet who don’t know her name.

 But her given name at birth was Cherilyn Sarkisian.

 She has also used the name Cheryl LaPiere and, during her marriage to the late Sonny Bono, Cher Bono.

 15.

 Katy Perry

 Born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson in 1984, Katy Perry went from unknown gospel singer to chart-topping pop star in the span of just a few years.

 She chose to go by her mother’s maiden name Perry in order to avoid being mistaken for actress Kate Hudson.

 14.

 Bob Dylan

 Icon of American music and Nobel laureate Bob Dylan has written lyrics that will likely be studied and analyzed by literary scholars for centuries to come.

 While he released some music early on in his career under his given name, many of his fans may not recognize the artist known as Robert Allen Zimmerman, oblivious to the fact that he later became the Dylan we all know.

 13.

 Dame Helen Mirren Having played three monarchs over the course of her illustrious career, British stage and screen star Dame Helen Mirren isn’t a stranger to the royal treatment either.

 Her parents named her Ilyena Lydia Mironoff.

 Though she has come to represent British culture in many ways, she is actually descended from deposed Russian nobility.

 She chose the last name Mirren due to how easy it was for casting representatives to pronounce.

 12.

 Louis C.K.

 Emmy winner Louis C.K.

 has redefined the genre of tragicomedy through his highly popular stand-up specials, his semi-autobiographical TV show Louie and his groundbreaking web series Horace and Pete.

 Born in Mexico, his first language was Spanish.

 His Hungarian-Mexican father’s surname is Szekely, which is phonetically pronounced “See-Kay,” resembling the letters in the alphabet.

 At the beginning of his career as a stand-up and comedy writer, Louis employed the letters as his last name in order to avoid mispronunciation and stand out in the memory of his audiences.

 11.

 Jamie Foxx

 Jamie Foxx, the Oscar-winning star of Ray, Collateral and Django Unchained, originates from Terrell, Texas.

 When he embarked on his comedy career in the 1980s, he changed his name from Eric Marlon Bishop to Jamie Foxx because of its gender neutrality on set lists for open-mic nights.

 Since female comedians were called up first, Foxx thought he would have a better chance of getting onstage early enough to perform for friendlier crowds.

 The choice of the last name “Foxx” was made in honor of Redd Foxx, another comic he greatly admired.

 10.

 Shania Twain

 From the first few bars of her 1997 hit single “Man!

 I Feel Like a Woman,” Shania Twain became synonymous with the expression of female empowerment in the country music genre.

 Growing up, she was known as Eileen Regina Edwards.

 When she moved to Nashville to pursue her career, she chose the last name Twain in honor of her step father.

 The first name Shania was recommended to her by music executives who were skeptical about how well her albums would sell under the name “Eileen Twain.”

 9.

 Demi Moore

 Demi Moore’s given name at birth was Demi Gene Harmon.

 Her parents divorced before her arrival.

 Three months after she was born in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1962, her mother changed her last name to Guynes, her soon-to-be stepfather's surname.

 The Indecent Proposal and G.I.

 Jane star took her first husband Freddy Moore’s last name after they married in 1980.

 8.

 Sir Elton John

 As one of the forefathers of modern British pop, Sir Elton John stepped into his place in music history in the 1970s with the album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

 But it remains widely unknown that his earliest work was written and performed under his given name - Reginald Kenneth Dwight.

 The names “Elton” and “John” were taken from two musicians he admired growing up: Long John Baldry and Dean Elton.

 7.

 Lady Gaga

 While she is already known for her originality in her performances and fashion experimentation, Lady Gaga’s originality in choosing a stage name often goes unremarked upon.

 Her real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.

 But aside from being an alternative name, Gaga is meant to be an alternative representation of her public persona as opposed to her personal identity.

 In 2013, she told People, “Stefani is a perpetually tortured artist.

 That’s why I changed my name.

 I can’t be her in public.

 She would be a mess!” 6.

 Sir Michael Caine Known for Oscar-winning roles in The Cider House Rules and Hannah and Her Sisters, as well as Bruce Wayne’s trusted butler Alfred in The Dark Knight trilogy, Sir Michael Caine’s name is the source of both thespian inspiration and internet memes the world over.

 His real name is Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, Jr., which he originally changed to Michael Scott.

 After firmly settling on the name “Michael Caine” in 1954, he began to receive recognition in public as his public profile rose.

 In 2016, he had it legally changed to his signature stage name out of frustration with delays at airport security checkpoints.

 The problem stemmed from the difference between what everyone in public recognized him as compared to the name on his passport.

 5.

 Whoopi Goldberg

 Whoopi Goldberg achieved global acclaim through her roles in films like The Color Purple, Ghost and the Sister Act films, as well as her current stint as a co-host on ABC’s The View.

 But many of her admirers are unaware of the fact that her real name is Caryn Elaine Johnson.

 While “Goldberg” is her mother’s maiden name, she chose “Whoopi” when forming her stage persona as a result of a running joke made by her friends, stating her early comedy made her the human equivalent to a Whoopee Cushion.

 4.

 Audrey Hepburn

 During her unparalleled career, Audrey Hepburn came to epitomize style, grace and vulnerability.

 When the Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany’s star was born in Belgium, she was originally named Audrey Kathleen Ruston.

 While her life as an adult was incredibly glamorous, she had a profoundly difficult childhood.

 Her parents divorced bitterly in 1938 and then her family was forced to flee their home after the outbreak of World War II.

 In order to put the painful memory of her father’s abandonment behind her, she dropped the surname Ruston.

 She subsequently benefitted from the mistaken belief that she was related to fellow actress Katharine Hepburn.

 3.

 Meryl Streep

 This three-time Academy Award winner and 20-time nominee is considered by many to be the greatest living actress.

 Confessing that she loathed her real name, Mary Louise Streep, when she was young, she started going by “Meryl” because she preferred her nickname when she was under consideration for roles.

 She does, however, still sign documents using her full legal name - Mary Louise Gummer.

 2.

 Oprah Winfrey

 Born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, in 1954, Oprah was eventually grew up to earn the title of “Queen of Daytime Talk” during the 25-year run of her signature ABC program The Oprah Winfrey Show.

 She became a trailblazer among talk show personalities, with her international popularity eventually making her a household name.

 But it isn’t quite the name she was given at birth.

 As a child, her full name was Orpah Gail Winfrey.

 The name Orpah was given in reference to a figure from the Bible.

 According to Winfrey, she took the frequent mispronunciation of her name by others as a sign and adopted it for her now-iconic professional pursuits.

 1.

 Bruno Mars

 When he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1985, the Grammy-winning performer behind chart-topping hits like “Just the Way You Are” and “Uptown Funk” we know today was named Peter Gene Hernandez.

 The nickname “Bruno” was given to him by his family and he chose the last name “Mars” to convey a “bigger than life” motivation behind his music.