Why Will Ferrell Was 'Embarrassed' By His Name Growing Up

While Will Ferrell is a household name now, he had a relatively normal upbringing in California, but one thing about his birth name led to continued embarrassment for the actor.

The actor opened up about the struggle on Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler's podcast, MeSsy, with Ferrell telling them of the experience, "This is a minor thing in terms of, it's not really even trauma. But I remember feeling so embarrassed."

"My real name is John, John William Ferrell, so first day of school, I'd be John. The teacher would be like 'John Ferrell?' and it was so embarrassing to me to have to say 'Here, but I go by Will, I don't go by John.'" he recalled.

While going by a name other than your birth name isn't out of the ordinary, when Sigler questioned why he didn't go by John, Ferrell notably said, "It wasn't my choice."

Ferrell explained, "My parents named me John but they called me Will. I grew up as Will, but on a rule sheet, my legal name is John Ferrell. I don't know why that was so embarrassing to me to have to explain 'I'm actually Will.'"

He added that this caused new students to often ask the same question as Sigler and Ferrell would avoid it, saying something like, "It's a long story."

Maybe it was a good thing that Ferrell's parents decided to call him by his middle name, Will, as he has gone on to be super successful in the entertainment industry.

Known for hit films like Elf and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, as well as a long stint on Saturday Night Live, the star has a personal documentary coming out later this year called Will & Harper, which he produced and features in.

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