12 Famous People Who Absolutely Made the Right Call to Change Their Names

To be fair, Vin Diesel did seem unlikely

August 19, 2024

Changing your god-given name is a big decision, but one that many people pursuing fame have to consider. In the case of these 12 celebrities, I’ll bet they didn’t have to think about it for that long. Could they have made it with their birth name? Well, take a look at their pictures next to the name from their birth certificate, and you tell me if they hold the same amount of star power.

Issur Danielovich

Yeah, that’s a “special thanks” name, not a leading man. Poster printers the world over are probably thankful to Kirk Douglas for changing it.

Maurice Micklewhite

Michael Caine rolls off the tongue a whole lot better, as it should — he stole Caine from a Humphrey Bogart movie, The Caine Mutiny.

Chaim Witz

If your stage persona is going to be a literal demon, Gene Simmons works better than what sounds like a Talmudic scholar.

Steveland Judkins

Yes, Steveland. Though, for all we know, his stage name is still short for Steveland Wonder.

Albert Einstein

Even if you take Hollywood by storm, you’re probably not outpacing the most famous scientific genius of the modern world. Albert Brooks was wise to forfeit that fight.

Robert Zimmerman

Bob Dylan’s music would sound a whole lot less soulful if your iPhone screen read “Rob Zimmerman.”

Olivia Cockburn

Forget fame, you’d probably change this one by the third grade if you could. Olivia Wilde also probably saved herself a lot of gross puns with the switch.

Jennifer Anastasakis

You have to feel bad for the Greeks. It feels like any celebrities they can claim, like Jennifer Aniston, have long had to change their name to make it fit on the bottom of a headshot without printing it in landscape.

Ralph Lifshitz

Yes, the founding father of the WASPiest clothes brand on Earth is a Jewish boy, born Ralph Lifshitz.

Thomas Mapother

Look, if you can ever change your last name to “Cruise” without getting called out on it, you take that. It’s clearly paid dividends for Tom Mapother.

Mark Sinclair

Mark Sinclair isn’t that bad, but every name is impactless dribble compared to Vin Diesel. To his credit, the guy above might be the only person on earth who looks like his name could legitimately be “Vin Diesel.”