ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Celebrities Who Changed Their Names

Updated on July 10, 2022
revmjm profile image

Margaret Minnicks has been an online writer for many years. She writes about interesting things.

Stage Names

We have become so accustomed to knowing celebrities by their stage names that we become quite amazed when we discover what's really on their legal birth certificates.

Many names have been changed by the individuals themselves, but many celebrities have been asked to change their names for various reasons.

Reasons Celebrities Change Their Names

Managers, directors, or producers might ask celebrities to change their names for more appeal and to make them easier to pronounce and spell.

Some long names are made shorter and some first names are dropped and some celebrities go by their middle names.

If a name has a negative connotation or unintentional humor, there is no question that the name will be changed.

Long Name
Short Name
Clayton Holmes Grissom
Clay Aiken
Allen Stewart Konigsberg
Woody Allen
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Doris von Kappelhoff
Doris Day
Eric Marlon Bishop
Jamie Foxx
John Elroy Sanford
Redd Foxx
Reginald Kenneth Dwight
Elton John
Demetria Gene Guynes
Demi Moore
Issur Danielovitch Demsky
Kirk Douglas
Caryn Elaine Johnson
Whoopi Goldberg
Christopher Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher
Norma Jean Baker
Marilyn Monroe
Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra
Meg Ryan
Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg
Jane Seymour
Christian Michael Leonard Hawkins
Christian Slater
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon
John Elroy Sanford is Redd Foxx
John Elroy Sanford is Redd Foxx | Source

Eric Marlon Bishop found that female stand-up comedians were put at the head of the list to perform so he changed his name to Jamie Foxx because Jamie could be either a male or female name.

Spelling Foxx with two xx's was a tribute to Redd Foxx who also changed his name. His name was John Elroy Sanford. It appeared that Redd Foxx couldn't get the name Sanford out of his mind as evidenced by his long-running television show, "Sanford and Son."

Redd Foxx got his first name because of the reddish tone in his hair.

Jamie Foxx changed his name to be like his idol Redd Foxx.
Jamie Foxx changed his name to be like his idol Redd Foxx.

Shorter Names Made Longer

There are not many shorter names made longer with these exceptions:

  • Jacob Cohen became Rodney Dangerfield; still two names but more syllables.
  • Lou Upchurch changed his name to Lou Diamond Phillips.

Names Similar to Real Names

Real Name
Stage Name
Julie Wells
Julie Andrews
David Jones
David Bowie
Nicolas Coppola
Nicolas Cage
Sally Mahoney.
Sally Field
Diane Hall.
Diane Keaton
Wynona Horowitz.
Wynona Ryder
Ronald Walken
Christopher Walken
William Bradley Pitt
Brad Pitt

Celebrities Who Use All Three Names

  • Neil Patrick Harris

  • Sarah Jessica Parker
  • Michael Philip Thomas

Celebrities with a Middle Initial

Sometimes celebrities will use the entire time to be identified. Some of those celebrities include the following:

  • Mary J. Blige
  • Sterling K. Brown
  • Former President George W. Bush
  • Michael J. Fox
  • Vivica A. Fox
  • David S. Goyer
  • Taraji P. Henson
  • Samuel L. Jackson
  • Michael B. Jordan uses his middle initial to set himself apart from the basketball icon Michael Jordan.

  • William H. Macy
  • President Harry S. Truman used a middle initial even though he had no middle name.
  • Courtney B. Vance




working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)