60+ celebrities that actually have different real names
Pleeeease welcome to the stage: Jelena, Destiny and Christopher. Yup.
Celebrities, they're just like us. Apart from the fact they have full time glam squads, get invited to swanky VIP parties and have the ability to change their names without anyone batting an eyelid. From Bruno Mars to Emma Stone, Halsey, Cardi B and more: here's a whole bunch of celebrities who have changed their names and why.
Maybe it's our turn to try on a different moniker, eh?
Lizzo
Real name: Melissa Viviane Jefferson
According to The Cut, when Lizzo was 14, she was in a rap group with two classmates called the Cornrow Clique. She was originally nicknamed Lissa, from Melissa, but inspired by Jay-Z's song 'Izzo', changed it to Lizzo.
Meg Ryan
Real name: Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra
Entertainment Weekly say the actor shortened her first name and adopted her grandmother's maiden name when she joined the Screen Actors Guild at the start of her career.
Olivia Colman
Real name: Sarah Caroline Olivia Colman
Speaking to The Independent in 2013, Olivia explained the UK actors' union already had a registered Sarah Colman, so she swapped out for her middle name. "One of my best friends at university was called Olivia and I always loved her name," she explained.
Vin Diesel
Real name: Mark Sinclair
According to Screen Rant, he adopted the moniker Vin Diesel long before he became an actor, while he was a bouncer at a nightclub because he thought it made him sound tougher.
Kelly Clarkson
Real name: Kelly Brianne
Singer Kelly announced at the end of March that she was officially changing her name, dropping surname Clarkson in favour of her middle name: Brianne.
"I just got divorced, so I had to drop my married last name," she told People (the TV Show!), before adding that she would keep Clarkson as her professional name. "I kept my middle name for my personal life. I’m still Kelly Clarkson. I don’t think I can change Clarkson at this point. I’m 20 years in."
Court documents obtained by Us read, "There being no objections, the petition for change of name is granted. The Decree is signed and filed. The Petitioner’s name is changed from KELLY BRIANNE CLARKSON to KELLY BRIANNE."
Halsey
Real name: Ashley Frangipane
Speaking to Cosmopolitan US about changing their name as a teenager, Halsey explained, "At the time, I felt that Ashley didn’t deserve to be famous and successful because [they] weren't that special, but if I made Halsey, maybe could be."
"[Changing my name] gave me the opportunity to create a new persona that wasn’t bound by the expectations I had for myself or the limitations that others placed on me because of my upbringing or my socioeconomic situation. I created a person, and she could do everything. There was no way that Ashley was going to become a king, but I made a new name for myself and took her to paranormal, supernatural heights."
Cardi B
Born: Belcalis Almanzar
The inspiration for Cardi's stage name came from the rum, Bacardi. "My sister's name is Hennessy," Cardi B explained to Jimmy Fallon. "So everyone used to call me Bacardi, and I started calling myself Bacardi, which eventually was shorted to Cardi B."
The Weeknd
Real name: Abel Makkonen Tesfaye
During a Reddit AMA, the singer revealed the meaning behind his stage name. "I left home when I was about 17 dropped out of high school and convinced Lamar to do the same lol," he said, referring to a member of his crew. "We grabbed our mattresses from our parents threw it in our friends shitty van and left one weekend and never came back home. It was gonna be the title of HOB [House of Balloons]. I hated my name at the time though so I tried it as a stage name. It sounded cool. I took out the "e" because there was already a Canadian band named The Weekend (copyright issues)."
Camila Cabello
Real name: Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao
It wasn’t until Camila auditioned for The X Factor, at 15, that she chose to change her name. “They asked if I wanted a stage name, and I said Camila because I hated my name," she told The Guardian. "I hated Karla. It was like this rebirth. I got to create myself again. I was Camila, and then suddenly I didn’t have to be this shy girl in the classroom.”
Mandy Moore
Real name: Amanda Leigh Moore
The This Is Us actress shortened Amanda to Mandy, explaining that Amanda made her think of her parents being angry with her. "I had never really owned my name," Mandy Moore explained in a 2009 interview with CNN. "It was just synonymous with my parents being mad at me."
Olivia Wilde
Real name: Olivia Cockburn
Surprise! Olivia actually changed her name to be modelled on the Irish poet Oscar Wilde early on in her acting and writing career. At the time, I was doing The Importance of Being Earnest—I was playing Gwendolen, and I was so in love with it," she told The Observer. "Oscar Wilde is someone who I respect for so many reasons—a revolutionary, a comedian, and a profound thinker. I had all these reasons. But what I didn't foresee is that people would think of it as a sexy adjective. So now it's got a pornographic quality I never considered."
Joaquin Phoenix
Real name: Joaquín Rafael Bottom
Phoenix's parents ditched the last name Bottom and reinvented themselves as the Phoenix family in 1979.
Frank Ocean
Real name: Christopher Edwin Breaux
In a 2011 Complex interview, he explained the name change: "It just felt cool. None of us are our names. If you don't like your name, then change your name."
He also legally changed his name to Christopher Francis Ocean in 2014.
Prince Harry
Real name: Henry Charles Albert David
Harry is actually just a nickname, as proved by the official engagement announcement on the Prince's website, www.princehenryofwales.org, which reads "Prince Henry of Wales & Meghan Markle are engaged to be married."
Emma Stone
Real name: Emily Jean Stone
In her Oscars acceptance speech for Best Actress, Olivia Colman thanked her co-star "Emily" for being so brilliant to work alongside in The Favourite. While some fans pointed out her 'error' on social media, others were quick to point out Emma Stone's real name is actually Emily Jean Stone.
So, why did she change it? "Well, I was 16 when I found out at SAG [Screen Actors Guild] I couldn't have my own name," Emma explained to W magazine. "I had the option of Emily J. Stone and it's kind of like Michael J. Fox, and I love Michael J. Fox, but I don't think I could pull off the J. So then I changed it to Emma because you know it's closer to Emily, but most people call me 'M,' that know me well."
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