Many celebrities were just diamonds in the rough when they started out but after hard work they transformed into Hollywood’s brightest stars.
You’d never guess that some of your favourite stars like Reese Witherspoon, Elton John and Rebel Wilson were all born with a different name.
Some stars have hilarious and inspired stories behind their stage name (here’s looking at you Whoopi Goldberg) while others have started completely fresh (cheers to you, Lorde!)
In the words of Shakespeare, “What is in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet!”
You might not be familiar with Amethyst Kelly or Thomas Mapother IV but you’ll soon discover these hidden titles are attached to some of the industry’s key players.
Click through as we uncover the real names your favourite stars were born with!
If you’re in the mood for more surprises, then prepare to be blown away by these stunning ageless Hollywood beauties
She’s one of our favourite Aussie starlets and as Woman’s Day previously revealed, the starlet is actually called Melanie Elizabeth Bownds.
Elton John = Reginald Kenneth Dwight. We think music superstar Elton John’s original name is FABULOUS! His stage name was a combination of tributes to fellow band members Elton Dean and Long John Baldry.
Iggy Azalea = Amethyst Amelia Kelly. Iggy might like to sing Fancy, but the Aussie rapper opted for a shorter name. Her updated moniker is a combination of her childhood dog and street name.
Julianne Moore = Julie Anne Smith. ”There was already a Julie Smith, a Julie Anne Smith, there was everything. 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,” the actress explained to the New York Times.
Helen Mirren = Ilyena Lydia Mironoff. Dame Helen Mirren is renowned for her graceful aging and prolific onscreen resumé, this Oscar winner was born in London in 1945 as Ilyena Lydia Mironoff.
Blake Lively = Blake Ellender Brown. Brown is the surname of Blake’s father Ernie, who took the surname of his wife, Elaine Lively, when they got married. So you might think Blake’s last name is legally Lively but for some reason it isn’t!
Whoopi Goldberg = Caryn Elaine Johnson. “If you get a little gassy, you’ve got to let it go. So people used to say to me, ‘You’re like a whoopee cushion.’ And that’s where the name came from,” Whoopi explained during one of her sets.
Emma Stone = Emily Jean Stone. “My name was taken at the Screen Actors Guild by one of the girls on Australia’s Next Top Model, when I was 16. And I choose Emma as it’s close to my real name (plus she was my favourite Spice Girl!” Emma told Jimmy Kimmel.
Miley Cyrus = Destiny Hope Cyrus: Miley’s father Billy Ray gave her the nickname “Smiley” to match her cheery persona. She changed her name legally in 2008.
Diane Keaton = Diane Hall. In real life, she shares a last name with her most famous character, Annie Hall.
Eminem = Marshall Bruce Mathers III. Believe it or not, Rapper Eminem used his own initials to inspire his stage name, not the M&M’S!
Bruno Mars = Peter Gene Hernandez. GQ magazine revealed that Bruno changed his Puerto Rican name “to avoid being stereotyped” into performing solely Latin and Spanish music. “I felt like I didn’t have no pizzazz, and a lot of girls say I’m out of this world, so I was like I guess I’m from Mars,” Bruno joked during an interview.
David Bowie = David Robert Jones. He changed his surname in 1965 to avoid confusion with the then popular Davy Jones of The Monkees. Bowie means blonde in Scottish.
Michael Keaton = Michael Douglas. When Michael Keaton accepted his best actor Golden Globe for Birdman, he told the crowd his birth name was actually Michael Douglas. The 63-year-old actor changed his name early in his career to avoid confusion with the actor of the same name and TV host Mike Douglas.
Jessie J = Jessica Ellen Cornish. “To be honest, there’s no real reason for the ‘J’ in my stage name (I always feel like i disappoint people when I say that),” she admitted during an interview.
Lorde = Ella Yelich-O’Connor. “I thought ‘Lord’ was super rad, but really 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,” Lorde told Interview magazine.
Tina Fey = Elizabeth Stamatina Fey. Drawing inspiration from real life, Tina Fey shares the name of her 30 Rock Liz Lemon character. Her stage name is just a shortened version of her middle name.
Natalie Portman = Natalie Hershlag. Natalie was born in Jerusalem, Israel, in 1981 but changed her name when she move to America. “Portman” is her grandmother’s maiden name.
Madonna = Madonna Louise Ciccone. Madonna was born with a pretty vogue name and became the icon that she is by dropping it to just the one name.
Reese Witherspoon = Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon. The Oscar nominee traded her first and middle name in for her mother’s maiden name, “Reese.”
Tom Cruise = Thomas Cruise Mapother IV: We think it’d be a mission impossible to remember that name!
Stevie Wonder = Stevland Hardaway Judkins. Well we think we’re signed, sealed and delivered on Stevie’s shortened stage name.
Michael Caine = Maurice Joseph Micklewhite. The two-time Oscar winner started with the stage name Michael Scott before settling on Michael Caine, which he took from the 1954 movie The Caine Mutiny.
