15 Celebrities Who Changed Their Names and the Surprising Reasons Why—From Lady Gaga to Bruno Mars
You may not think you know Stefani Germanotta or Marvin Lee Aday, but you just might be a fan
These stars are instantly recognized by their iconic names — Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Freddie Mercury — but did you realize that none of them were birth-given? While we know many artists opt for a stage name when starting out on their careers, some of these celebrities didn’t have a choice when it came to changing their name.
1. Lady Gaga
Real Name: Stefani Germanotta
Why she changed it: “[Record Producer Robert Fusari] started to call me Gaga when I’d come into the studio. When we were getting ready to really start performing, I decided that I’d been playing under my real name for so long I wanted a new way to reinvent myself. So, I said, ‘What about Lady Gaga?’ because Gaga is sort of crazy and Lady has such connotations.”
2. Jamie Foxx
Real Name: Eric Marlon Bishop
Why he changed it: “I went to do stand-up in a club… When I had a great set, I couldn’t get back up for six weeks, because the comedian’s ran the list…So I noticed there would be, like, a thousand guys show up and only three girls, but the three girls would always get a spot. So, I went to the list and wrote down unisex names: Stacy Green, Tracy Brown, Jamie Foxx.” He also shared that Foxx came from comedian Redd Foxx.
3. Bruno Mars
Real Name: Peter Gene Hernandez
Why he changed it: “Bruno is after Bruno Sammartino, who was this big fat wrestler. I guess I was this chunky little baby, so my dad used to call me that as a nickname. The Mars came up just because 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.’”
4. Elvis Costello
Real Name: Declan Patrick Aloysius Macmanus
Why he changed it: Macmanus’ stage first name, Elvis, was directly inspired by Elvis Presley, who was on top of the world at the time.
5. Meat Loaf
Real Name: Marvin Lee Aday
Why he changed it: Meat Loaf explained that when he was born, his father said, “I want you to name my son there – because he looks like nine and a half pounds of ground chuck – I want you to put a name tag on the front of that plastic crib and it say ‘Meat’ on it.”
The ‘Loaf’ part of his name comes from his football coach, who yelled, “‘Get off my foot, you hunk of meat loaf!’ after he stepped on his foot.
6. Freddie Mercury
Real Name: Farrokh Bulsara
Why he changed it: Freddie was a nickname that the singer used as a kid, but Mercury was something he chose. His bandmate, Brian May, explained, “Freddie had written this song called ‘My Fairy King; and there’s a line in it that says: ‘Oh Mother Mercury, what have you done to me?.’ It was after that that he said, ‘I am going to become Mercury as the mother in the song is my mother.’”
7. Vin Diesel
Real Name: Mark Sinclair Vincent
Why he changed it: “I was a bouncer for nine years in New York City, and when you’re a bouncer, the last thing you ever do is tell everybody your real name… so the other bouncers started calling me Vin Diesel and it stuck.”
8. Meg Ryan
Real Name: Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra
Why she changed it: The rom com actress decided to shorten her birth name, which is quite lengthy, and opted for the nickname of Meg and her grandmother’s maiden name, which was Ryan.
9. Emma Stone
Real Name: Emily Jean Stone
Why she changed it: “It’s just because my name was taken. 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.’”
10. Alexis Bledel
Real Name: Kimberly Alexis Bledel
Why she changed it: Bledel never explained the reason behind cutting her first name, but when she got her start in her career, the actress decided to professionally go by her middle name.
11. Katy Perry
Real Name: Katheryn Ellizabeth Hudson
Why she changed it: Perry changed her last name from Hudson to Perry to avoid confusion between her and actress Kate Hudson. The singer chose Perry because it is her mother’s maiden name.
12. Natalie Portman
Real Name: Natalie Hershlag
Why she changed it: “I got very protective of it very early on. I chose a different name when I started, which was kind of an interesting way that I separated identities.”
13. Ashton Kutcher
Real Name: Christopher Ashton Kutcher
Why he changed it: “Ashton Kutcher didn’t change his name. Ashton is my middle name. My first name is Christopher, and when I moved to New York when I was 19 years old, the modeling agent that I was working with suggested that I go by the name Ashton because there was another Chris K at the modeling agency, Chris Kramer.”
14. Michael Keaton
Real Name: Michael Douglas
Why he changed it: “There were already two people in the union with the name Michael Douglas, I got a job and contractually you couldn’t have people of the same name.”
15. Olivia Wilde
Real Name: Olivia Jane Cockburn
Why she changed it: The actress legally changed her last name to Wilde to honor Oscar Wilde, who was one of her favorite authors.
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