50 Celebrities Who Have Different Real Names

Real name: Jelena Hadid

“In first or second grade, there was a girl named Helena and it got confusing with the teacher who had to call out our names,” the model told Vogue. “And so the teacher asked my mom, ‘If I needed to call Jelena a nickname, what would it be?’ And my mom was like, ‘I call her Gigi sometimes,’ and the name stuck.”

Real name: Demetria Gene Guynes

According to a 2007 profile on the star by The Guardian, her mother chose the name Demetria after seeing it in a shampoo ad. Her last name, Guynes, is after the man believed to be her father, Danny Guynes. Later in life, she discovered her real dad was actually a man named Charles Harman. As for Moore? She married a singer named Freddy Moore in 1980 and kept his name after the divorce.

Real name: Joaquín Rafael Bottom

Phoenix’s parents ditched the last name Bottom in 1979 and reinvented themselves as the Phoenix family.

Real name: Christopher Catesby Harington

Harington didn’t know his real name was Christopher until he was 11 years old. “I think they could see that I wanted to be Kit, but Christopher was a bit of a tradition,” he told Glamour. “My brother’s name is Jack, but his real name is John. Kit is traditionally an offshoot of Christopher, it’s just not used that often. My middle name is Catesby.”

Real name: Julie Anne Smith

Moore’s given name was too popular in actors’ unions, so she created a mash-up of her other family members’s names. In an interview with The New York Times, she said, “My father’s middle name is Moore; my mother’s name is Anne. So I just slammed the Anne onto the Julie. That way I could use both of their names and not hurt anyone’s feelings. But it’s horrible to change your name. I’d been Julie Smith my whole life, and I didn’t want to change it.”

Real name: Henry Charles Albert David

Like his wife, the Duke of Sussex also goes by another name. “My name is Henry as well,” the royal told a young WellChild Award winner in 2022. “But everyone calls me Harry. I have no idea why.”

Real name: Emily Jean Stone

“My real name is Emily. But it was taken at SAG,” the actress told W Magazine. “I was 16…. So to ask a 16-year-old to pick a new name is really an interesting process, because I was like, ‘I’m going to be Riley.’ And so my name was Riley Stone for about six months.” But the new name didn’t go so well—Stone didn’t respond to it when she was on set. “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.”

Real name: Eric Marlon Bishop

Foxx explained the reason for his name change on Late Show with David Letterman. When he was getting started on the stand-up circuit, he noticed female comedians were so rare that they would always score a slot. “So I went to the list and wrote down unisex names. Stacy Green, Tracy Brown…Jamie Foxx! And I’m the first guy called. He goes, ‘Jamie Foxx, is she here?’ I said, ‘No, brother, that’s me.’ And then I go onstage and I get a standing ovation.”

Real name: Adam Richard Wiles

“My first single was more of a soul track, and I thought Calvin Harris sounded a bit more racially ambiguous,” he said in a 2009 interview with ShortList, according to Digital Spy.

Real name: William Bradley Pitt

The actor might go by his middle name in Hollywood, but it seems he flirts by using his real name. “‘Hi, I’m William,'” he reportedly told a woman during a 2018 coffee run, according to Page Six. “She replied, ‘Oh, you look like a Bradley.’ And he responded, ‘Well, that’s my middle name,’ and smiled and winked at her.”

Real name: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor

The New Zealand singer was always drawn to the name “Lord” but thought the spelling was too masculine. “Ever since I was a little kid, I have been really into royals and aristocracy, so to make ‘Lord’ more feminine, I just put an ‘e’ on the end! Some people think it’s religious, but it’s not,” she told Interview Magazine.

Real name: Robyn Rihanna Fenty

She still goes by Robyn with friends and family. “When I hear Robyn, I pay attention,” she told Rolling Stone in 2011.

Real name: Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta

The story behind Lady Gaga’s stage name began with an autocorrected text message. In 2006, she met music producer Rob Fusari, who compared her vocals to Queen’s Freddie Mercury. He would sing “Radio Ga Ga” whenever she entered the studio, and one day they were texting and his phone autocorrected it to Lady Gaga. She reportedly texted back, “That’s it.”

Real name: Destiny Hope Cyrus

When Cyrus was a baby, her family called her “Smiley” because she always had a grin on her face. She legally changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus in 2009.

Real name: Onika Tanya Maraj

Minaj didn’t actually like her name change at all. “One of the first production deals I signed, the guy wanted my name to be Minaj and I fought him tooth and nail. But he convinced me. I’ve always hated it,” she told The Guardian.