29 Celebrity Name Change Backstories

There’s way more behind celebrity names than just union rules.
29 Celebrity Name Change Backstories

Celebrities change their names all the time, and it's not always because Cruise sounds cooler than Mapother. A lot of times there's a truly interesting, if not juicy, story behind a famous person's stage name.

For example ...

CRAy Leonardo Dicaprio's first name was inspired by none other than Leonardo da Vinci. While his mother was pregnant with DiCaprio, she and his father
My real name is Robert Elias. -Robert Downey Jr. The Iron Man star revealed that his father, filmmaker Robert Downey Sr., changed his name sO he cou
Alicia Beth Moore (Pink) got her stage name from Mr Pink in Reservoir Dogs because she shared the Steve Buscemi character's sassy and smart-ass attitu
CRACKED COM 2 CHAINZ'S INITIAL RAP NAME WAS TITY BOY (AND THAT'S BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONLY BREAST FED CHILD IN HIS FAMILY). But according to him, 2 Ch
Ace of Cakes star DUFF GOLDMAN got his nickname when his big brother couldn't say his real name, calling him Duffy as a baby instead of Jeffrey. C
Charlotte Emma Aitchison couldn't think Of a good stage name, SO she picked her MSN screen name charlie XCX which stuck after she got famous. CRACKEDO

Katy Perry

Katy Perry changed her name from Katy Hudson to avoid being confused with actress Kate Hudson. ? ? But Kate Hudson's father had changed his name from

Buster Keaton

BUSTER KEATON WAS KNOWN FOR HIS DEATH-DEFYING STUNTS BORN JOSEPH KEATON, HIS NICKNAME CAME FROM HARRY HOUDINI WHO SAW HIM FALL DOWN THE STAIRS AS A
CRACKEDOON In 1967, David Jones had to change his last name to avoid being confused with Davy Jones of The Monkees. His new surname, Bowie, was a trib
The Weeknd came up with his stage name as a reference to the time when he ran away from home with his friend for the weekend. He had to drop an'e' in
Actor CREED BRATTON is often as odd in real life as his namesake character on THE OFFICE. He didn't like his given name. So while partying in Europe i

David Tennant

David Tennant's birth name was David McDonald but there was already a David McDonald in the actors' union he was joining SO he had to change it. He fl
Oprah Winfrey was named Orpah after a woman in the Bible. Along the way, her name got misspelled as Oprahs SsO often that it just kinda stuck. CRA
Arrested Development star Portia de Rossi was born in Australia as Amanda ROgers. The actress said she was struggling with her identity as a gay teen,

Brie Larson

CRACKED.COM Brie Larson's given surname is Desaulniers, but she wanted one that's easier to say. So she took the surname of Kirsten Larson, her favori
Keanu Reeves's first name is Hawaiian, ke'anu meaning cool breeze over the mountains. As awesome as that is, his agents thought it Wasn't good enoug

Emma Stone

Emily Jean Stone changed her name to Emma Stone for two reasonss 1. Her real name was already taken when she tried to register with the Screen Actors

Martin Sheen

Martin Sheen's real name is Ramon Gerardo Antonio Estevez. BE a Due to prejudices against Hispanics in 1950s New York, he named himself Martin after

Lorde

Ella Yelich-o'connor, better known as Lorde, has been into royal stuff since she was a kid, and thought that Lord was a great stage name- she just add

A Little Brain Donation For You

Belcalis Almanzar was nicknamed Bacardi'o. 0O after the liquor company -a because her sister's name is Hennessy. It was her Instagram name but her ac
John Simon Ritchie was named Sid Vicious after a hamster. PRU ARUS JRITY CCALISTS Bandmate Johnny Rotten's pet hamster was named Sid, and he mocking
Post Malone He went to a rap StoyAoy name generator and just typed Austin Post, his real name. ontloy
Buzz Aldrin's first name was actually Edwin but his sister, who couldn't pronounce brother, called him Buzzer and it stuck. BU27 ALDRIN CRACKEDCON
IGGY AZALEA Iggy came from her dog's name. Azalea was derived from the street her mom lived on.
Nicki Minaj's birth name is Onika Maraj. Her friends started calling her Nicki but she was convinced to change her last name by a company exec igas

Macklemore

Ben Haggerty took his stage name from a high school art assignment where he named a superhero figurine Professor Macklemore. CRACKEDCON

Spike Jonze

Adam Spiegel got nicknamed Spike Jonze by his dirtbike shop co-workers. He didn't shower before work, so his hair stuck out in spikes. CRACKED.COM
Miley Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus) was called ''Smiley as a child because she smiled all the time. Eventually, Smiley became Miley, which she lega

Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys chose her last name after her friend told her of a dream about trying to open a locked briefcase. (...) I was like, 'Keys? and I play the
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