Celebrities' real names revealed: From Meg Ryan to Whoopi Goldberg

You may know them by their stage names, others know them by their legal names.

May their real names please stand up!

Many entertainers understand the trade-off that comes with fame — their lives becoming an open book for everyone — but one way they draw a line between their public persona and private life is by adopting a stage name. (As RuPaul once said, "It’s important to use a stage name so that your real name doesn’t appear on public records.”)

Creating a stage name can stem from various inspirations: sentimental reasons, a desire for a catchy or Hollywood-like moniker, a persona they wish to project, or even a twist on their birth name. While stars like Eminem and Lady Gaga are famous under their pseudonyms, their given names also deserve the spotlight.

Read below to learn the real names of 50 celebrities.

Emily Jean Stone (Emma Stone)

In an April 2024 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Oscar-winning actress revealed she goes by Emma because her real name, Emily Stone, was already claimed by another actress in SAG-AFTRA. "It's just because my name was taken," she said. "Then I freaked out a couple of years ago. For some reason, I was like, 'I can't do it anymore. Just call me Emily.'"

Daniel Jason Sudeikis (Jason Sudeikis)

Turns out, all those years he was introduced as Saturday Night Live cast member Jason Sudeikis, he was really a Daniel — and still is. The Ted Lasso star and four-time Emmy winner actually shares the same first name as his dad, so his family started calling him by his middle name, Jason, to make things less confusing at home. "My mom decided to call me Jason so that we knew which one she was yelling at," the actor confirmed during a round of Truth or Dare on Today in October 2021.

Belcalis Almanzar (Cardi B)

The "Bodak Yellow" rapper based her stage name Cardi B on liquor brand Bacardi. "My sister's name is Hennessy, so everybody used to call me Bacardi," Cardi B explained to Jimmy Fallon during a December 2017 appearance on The Tonight Show. "Then it was my Instagram name, Bacardi, Bacardi B. But for some reason, my Instagram kept getting deleted, and, you know what, I think it was Bacardi that had something to do with it. So, I just shortened it to Cardi B."

Peter Hernandez (Bruno Mars)

One of pop music's biggest stars is actually named Peter Hernandez. Growing up in a musical family in Hawaii, Hernandez's father would call him Bruno from a young age, saying that he looked so much like the wrestler Bruno Sammartino. It wasn't until he moved to L.A. at age 17 to pursue music that he adopted Bruno Mars as his stage name. He made his surname Mars because when people would tell him that he was out of this world, he would respond, "I guess I'm from Mars."

Kimberly Alexis Bledel (Alexis Bledel)

Long before fans knew her as Rory Gilmore on Gilmore Girls, Alexis Bledel was Kimberly Alexis Bledel, a child model from Houston. Though she has remained mum on the reason, the actress nixed her first name when her acting career began in her 20s. (Fun fact: Bledel is an actual "Gilmore," as her paternal great-great-grandmother was born Rebecca Richardson Gilmore.)

John Roger Stephens (John Legend)

John Roger Stephens had already chosen his stage name, John Legend, by the time Kanye West signed him to his record label in 2003. "It was bold, and I knew people would be like, 'He'd better be good if he's going to call himself John Legend,'" the singer told The New York Times in October 2006. "So I said, 'Let me go out and make the best music I can, and maybe after my career is over, I've lived up to the name.'"

Destiny Hope Cyrus (Miley Cyrus)

Miley Cyrus was always destined for stardom — just look at her given name! Her childhood nickname, though, was Smiley, which was eventually shortened to Miley. In 2008, at the age of 15, the Hannah Montana star legally changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus, an homage to her childhood nickname and her father Billy Ray's middle name.

Marshall Mathers (Eminem)

Some know him as Slim Shady, others as Eminem, but those closest to him call him by his real name, Marshall Mathers. His stage name is a clever play on his initials, altered slightly to avoid confusion with a certain candy brand.

Aubrey Graham (Drake)

Many people know that the rapper Drake got his start as a child actor in Canada playing Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi. Back in those days, he went by his given name, Aubrey Graham. When he started releasing mixtapes as a rapper, however, he decided to go by his middle name, Drake.

Demi Guynes (Demi Moore)

Demi Moore was only three months old when her mother married Dan Guynes, and although Guynes was not her biological father, Demi was raised with his last name. When she was just a teenager, she married musician Freddy Moore, and while that marriage didn't last, the last name did — she took Demi Moore as her stage name as her acting career took off.

Montero Hill (Lil Nas X)

Like any true member of Generation Z, the "Old Town Road" rapper first used the name Lil Nas X as a bit of a joke alias on social media. "The X wasn't included at first," he has explained. "It was just Lil Nas. It was Lil Nas because, when I first started rapping, I wasn't as serious, so it was like, 'Okay, every rapper's name is starting with Lil lately.' So, I kind of got stuck with it. I added the X later on after I was more serious."

Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra (Meg Ryan)

Before Meg Ryan was a household name, she was Margaret Hyra. Ryan changed her name while registering for the Screen Actors Guild. She chose to go by Ryan instead, which was the maiden name of her maternal grandmother.

Joaquin Bottom (Joaquin Phoenix)

Joaquin Phoenix has gone through a few name changes. As a child actor, he went by Leaf Phoenix in order to have a nature-themed name like his siblings River, Rain, Liberty, and Summer, but his name at birth was Joaquin Bottom. When his family left the Children of God religious group when Joaquin was just 4, they changed their last names to Phoenix to signify their rebirth and a new beginning.

Robyn Rihanna Fenty (Rihanna)

When Rihanna hit the music scene with her debut single "Pon de Replay" in 2005, she joined a long list of divas known by their first names (Madonna, Cher, Shakira, etc.), but she wouldn't have been able to do that with her real one, Robyn — which, of course, was already taken by the "Dancing On My Own" songstress in the '90s. Still, the Barbados-born singer is embracing her family heritage in other ways, using her surname for her cosmetic line, Fenty Beauty; her sportswear collection, Fenty x Puma; and her lingerie line, Savage X Fenty.

Maurice Joseph Micklewhite (Michael Caine)

Michael Caine was actually born with the exact same name as his father: a fish market worker named Maurice Joseph Micklewhite. When he was cast in a stage production of Wuthering Heights in 1953, he adopted his first stage name, which was Michael Scott (half a century before the Steve Carell character). He moved to London a year later, only to discover there was already an actor named Michael Scott performing there. While on the phone with his agent, Caine turned around and noticed that the cinema across the street was playing The Caine Mutiny, and informed his agent he would go by Michael Caine from then on.

Olivia Cockburn (Olivia Wilde)

The Cockburn name is actually pretty significant in the political and literary history of England, and Olivia grew up in a family full of prolific writers and journalists, but Olivia knew at age 2 that she wanted to be an actress. She changed her name to Olivia Wilde in high school as an homage to the writer Oscar Wilde, paying tribute to the writers in her family who often used pen names.

Eric Bishop (Jamie Foxx)

Although known for his acting and singing these days, a young Eric Bishop was also very adept at telling jokes. In his early 20s, Bishop started frequenting open mic nights at comedy clubs. Soon, he began to notice that female comedians would often get called to the stage sooner, so he wanted a name that was ambiguous in terms of gender. He came up with Jamie Foxx, with Foxx being a tribute to the comedian Redd Foxx.

Katheryn Hudson (Katy Perry)

Turns out there's another Kate Hudson in Hollywood! Before she was a roaring California Gurl, Katy Perry was performing Christian and gospel music under her given name, Katy Hudson, in Nashville. After a commercially unsuccessful debut, Hudson moved to Los Angeles and began recording pop music. She started using her mother's maiden name, Perry, when she performed to avoid confusion with the actress Kate Hudson.

Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor (Lorde)

At just 16 years old, Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor burst onto the music scene with her signature dark lipstick, moody bedroom-pop sound, and the now-iconic moniker, "Lorde."

"It was a good spontaneous choice, I think. I'm quite proud of my 16-year-old self for not messing that one up because if I'd given myself a cool, weird, hip name that I hated now that would be super annoying," she said during a 60 Minutes Australia interview in June 2017. "It was that nobility, aristocracy obsession that I had. I hit upon 'Lord' and loved the way it sounded, and then I was like, it would be quite cool to add an E to feminize it."

Vera Mindy Chokalingam (Mindy Kaling)

Mindy Kaling shortened her last name for professional purposes, but never went by her real first name, Vera, to begin with. Her parents gave her the middle name Mindy after Mork & Mindy, and the star passed on the name to the central character of her sitcom, The Mindy Project.

Amanda Lee Rogers (Portia de Rossi)

Before making us laugh on Arrested Development or touching our hearts by marrying Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi was Amanda Rogers, a child model in Victoria, Australia. At age 14, she adopted the name Portia de Rossi in order to reinvent herself before delving into acting. She chose the name Portia after being inspired by the character of the same name in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.

Neta-Lee Hershlag (Natalie Portman)

Born in Jerusalem, Natalie Portman was actually Neta-Lee Hershlag growing up. Her family moved to America when she was 3, and she began to go by the Americanized version of her first name: Natalie. As she was just breaking into acting, Natalie decided to use Portman, her grandmother's maiden name, as her last name to protect her privacy.

Caryn Johnson (Whoopi Goldberg)

You've probably never heard of Caryn Johnson, but you've definitely heard of her stage name Whoopi Goldberg. The comedian got the nickname Whoopi from...well...being a little gassy around her friends in the theater when she was starting out. She actually thought of just going by the name Whoopi Cushion for a bit, but her mother suggested taking Goldberg, a family name, to be her surname in order to be taken a little more seriously.

Courtney Harrison (Courtney Love)

The Hole lead singer and Kurt Cobain's wife had a troubled childhood, moving around different foster homes for much of her youth. She was born Courtney Harrison, but changed her surname to Rodriguez and Menely before finally landing on Courtney Love after a trip to Alaska and her move to West Hollywood to start a band.

Krishna Bhanji (Ben Kingsley)

Ben Kingsley's given name is much in line with his Gujarati Indian descent. Born Krishna Bhanji, he chose the anglicized stage name of Ben Kingsley when he started acting. Ben came from an old nickname of his father's, Benji, and Kingsley was a reference to the name King Cloves that was given to his grandfather, who used to be a well-known spice trader.

Elizabeth Grant (Lana Del Rey)

Much like Katy Perry, Lana Del Rey was unsuccessful in making hit music under her given name, so she adopted a new identity. While in her senior year at Fordham University, Lizzy Grant signed a record deal and released an EP entitled Kill Kill under her name. When her album was shelved, though, Grant shifted focus and began going by Lana Del Rey.

Melissa Jefferson (Lizzo)

The flute-playing rapper born Melissa Jefferson originally went by the nickname Lissa but changed it to Lizzo in her early teens after hearing Jay-Z's "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)."

Bernice Frankel (Bea Arthur)

As Bernice Frankel, Bea Arthur worked in the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve during World War II, where she met the man she would marry, Robert Alan Aurthur. Although the two divorced soon after, Arthur kept his name for her acting career, modifying the spelling.

Mark Vincent (Vin Diesel)

At just 17 years old, Mark Vincent became a bouncer at a New York City nightclub called the Tunnel. It was at this job that Vincent would receive the name that would make him famous — his friends and co-workers started calling him Vin Diesel. Vin was just a shortened form of his last name, and they added Diesel because he was always so full of energy.

Amethyst Kelly (Iggy Azalea)

When a starry-eyed young Aussie named Amethyst Kelly first moved to the U.S. at age 16, she was already planning her takeover of the hip-hop industry. She began rapping in Miami, Houston, and Atlanta under her stage name of Iggy Azalea, which she chose using the formula many people use to choose their alternate names: Her dog was named Iggy and she grew up on Azalea Street.

Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (Doja Cat)

Known for her endless bops ("Say So," "Kiss Me More," "Paint the Town Red," etc.) and internet-raised personality, Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini used her love of cats and marijuana to make the perfect stage name: Doja Cat. "I was heavily addicted to weed and weed culture, so when I began rapping I thought of the word ‘doja’ and how it sounds like a girl’s name,” she explained in an e-mail to Dazed magazine in August 2018.

Enrique Martin Morales (Ricky Martin)

So much of Ricky Martin's success is based on his suave, Latin charm, so it's kind of surprising that he would go from Enrique Morales to Ricky Martin. According to a 1995 interview, the change sprouted from his parents' contention while their son was touring with Menudo. Martin's father, also named Enrique, made his son choose between him and his mother. A resentful young Martin chose his mother and changed his name to Ricky to further cut ties with his father.

Ilyena Mironov (Helen Mirren)

Helen Mirren was born in London, but comes from a long line of Russian ancestry on her father's side, as her given name makes clear. In her youth, her father anglicized their family name to Mirren, and she began going by her altered first name of Helen as well.

Calvin Broadus Jr. (Snoop Dogg)

Snoop Dogg was named after his stepfather, Calvin Broadus Sr., after his dad abandoned the family shortly after his birth. He took up the moniker Snoop Doggy Dogg, later shortening it to Snoop Dogg (and, for a brief time, Snoop Lion).

Audrey Perry (Faith Hill)

A young Audrey Perry dropped out of school at age 19 to move to Nashville in pursuit of her dreams of becoming a country singer. In the midst of her unsuccessful attempts to take off, Perry married a publisher named Daniel Hill. She took his last name, and, as many singers do, used her middle name Faith as her stage name. Although she and Daniel divorced just after her first album came out, the singer kept the name Faith Hill, as fans had grown accustomed to it. However, Hill did keep her given name alive by naming her third daughter Audrey in 2001.

Michael Douglas (Michael Keaton)

Any fan can probably guess why Michael Keaton needed to change his name from the one on his birth certificate: Michael Douglas. After moving to Los Angeles to audition for TV roles, the actor knew he had to find a new name in order to avoid confusion with the already-established actor Michael Douglas. He chose to adopt the surname Keaton out of admiration for a fellow actor. No, not Diane Keaton. It was actually a tribute to the early 20th-century vaudevillian Buster Keaton.

Stefani Germanotta (Lady Gaga)

Born Stefani Germanotta, Lady Gaga's iconic stage name is derived from the Queen song "Radio Ga Ga," although there is some dispute over whether she gave it to herself or it was an auto-correct error sent in a text from producer and ex-boyfriend Rob Fusari.

Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (Megan Thee Stallion)

The Grammy-winning rapper has been riding high since first going viral with her freestyle raps in 2013. Being 5 foot 10, Megan Jovon Ruth Pete got her stage name from what people used to call her during her teenage years. "Since I was younger, probably about 15 or 16, I’ve always had the same body. Older guys would always be like, 'Oh, you a stallion,'" she told Houstonia magazine in September 2017. "So I finally had to ask like, 'Is that a good thing?' Everybody pretty much took it and ran with it, and then I put it as my main name on Twitter, and ever since then everybody’s just been calling me Stallion."

Brian Warner (Marilyn Manson)

The last name you'd probably expect to belong to the devilish figure of Marilyn Manson is something as mundane as Brian Warner. The singer came from a pretty traditional Christian family, and it was in Christian grade school that the teachers showed him and his classmates the music that they weren't supposed to be listening to, and he was immediately hooked. When he started his first band in the late-'80s, Warner created his stage name by combining the names of two seemingly opposite cultural icons: Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson.

Shawn Carter (Jay-Z)

Born Shawn Carter, Jay-Z was known as Jazzy around his Brooklyn neighborhood of Bed-Stuy. He adapted it to Jay-Z in an homage to his mentor, rapper Jaz-O. The name stuck, although it has gone through several punctuation changes.

Eileen Edwards (Shania Twain)

Eileen Edwards had a rough upbringing in rural Ontario. Her parents divorced when she was 2, and she was forced to sing in bars at closing time before she was 10 to make money to support her mother (who was experiencing depression) and sometimes violent stepdad. When her mother married Jerry Twain, an Ojibwe Native American, he adopted Eileen and her two sisters, and they all took Twain as their last name. When she signed her first record deal in 1993, she took the name Shania Twain. Some have said the name is an Ojibwe word meaning "on my way," but Shania has admitted that the name actually has no meaning.

Reginald Dwight (Elton John)

At the age of 15, Reginald Dwight was a regular pub pianist playing popular standards and some of his own songs. It was also around this time that he started a band called Bluesology with a number of his friends. Five years later, he began writing music for lyrics written by lyricist Bernie Taupin and recorded their first song together. It was then that Reginald Dwight adopted the name Elton John. The name was an homage to his fellow Bluesology member Elton Dean, and the blues singer that they backed, Long John Baldry.

Onika Maraj (Nicki Minaj)

Nicki Minaj isn't the only persona Onika Maraj has gone by. The rapper has explained that she developed different identities to deal with a difficult upbringing, first going by Cookie, followed by Harajuku Barbie, and finally Nicki Minaj.

Kayleigh Rose Amstutz (Chappell Roan)

Since her debut album, The Rise and Fall of the Midwestern Princess, dropped in September 2023, Chappell Roan and her campy, maximalist persona (heavily inspired by drag queens) have drawn more and more starstruck eyes with each passing minute. Although her birth name is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, her stage name holds a deep personal meaning.

“My grandfather’s name was Dennis K. Chappell, so I took Chappell in his honor," she told Oxford's student newspaper Cherwell in August 2022. "Before he passed away in 2016 due to brain cancer, I told him that I was going to be Chappell for him. Roan came from his favorite song, which was called 'The Strawberry Roan,' an old Western song [by Marty Robbins] about a pinkish-red horse. It’s a very sentimental name. I do still wish my name was not Kayleigh in real life, though."

Adam Wiles (Calvin Harris)

Calvin Harris is known worldwide for creating some of the most recognizable Top 40 hits, but what may not be known by everyone is his real name. The Scottish DJ was born Adam Wiles, and once said that he changed his name to Calvin Harris in order to sound racially ambiguous after releasing a soul-inspired track when he was just starting.

Tanner Schneider (Elle King)

There's nothing funny about Elle King's talent — she burst onto the mainstream music scene in 2015 with the bluesy rock track "Ex's & Oh's" — but she does have comedy in her blood. Born Tanner Schneider, King is actually the daughter of comedian and actor Rob Schneider, and has even appeared in four of his films (1999's Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, 2006's The Benchwarmers, 2009's Wild Cherry, and 2022's Daddy Daughter Trip). But when King decided she wanted to be a singer, she chose to distance herself from her famous father by using a stage name. She chose Elle, her middle name, and King, her mother's maiden name, to create the name.

Christopher Breaux (Frank Ocean)

When Christopher Breaux started making music in New Orleans and then Los Angeles, he adopted the name Frank Ocean, inspired by his love for Frank Sinatra and the film Ocean's 11 (the 1960 one with Sinatra). In 2015, Ocean legally changed his name to Frank Ocean.

Margarita Ibrahimoff (Rita Wilson)

Rita Wilson was born Margarita Ibrahimoff. The actress explained in an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? that her father, Hassan Ibrahimoff, changed his name to Allan Wilson after moving to the U.S. from Bulgaria. And Rita is just a nickname for Margarita.

Tara Patrick (Carmen Electra)

Then named Tara Patrick, Carmen Electra grew up wanting to be a star. She took dance classes and acted in school plays when she was young, and moved out to California when she was 19 to pursue a career in music. It was there that she met Prince, who signed her to his record label and encouraged her to change her name, saying that she looked like Electra. (In January 2024, she legally changed her name to Carmen Electra.)

Tyler Gregory Okonma (Tyler, the Creator)

Known and revered as his stage name, Tyler, the Creator was born Tyler Gregory Okonma. The rapper and producer told Fast Company in December 2021 that he was learning to embrace his real moniker, namely, his African last name, after initially believing it was "weird" as a child. "I'm getting older, and I think when people get older, they start realizing s--- and liking things they didn't like. You just start changing," he mused. "I think my version of that is looking at my name and saying, 'Oh, this is actually cool.'" His stage name originates from a MySpace account he made at 13 where he showcased his art and music. "It stuck with me, so it just works."

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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.