42 Celebrities Who Were Born with Different Names

Nikolina Konstantinova Dobreva has a certain ring to it, no?

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Chelsea Peng
By Chelsea Peng
published

"That's not my name. That's not my name." —the Ting Tings and the following 42 stars, who, for whatever reason, decided to adopt 42 different pseudonyms.

1/42
Fergie
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Fergie

In a previous life, she was known as Stacy Ann Ferguson. Then she did the duchess thing. 

2/42
Ashton Kutcher
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Ashton Kutcher

Goes by his middle name (from Christopher Ashton Kutcher). 

3/42
Kelly Rowland
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Kelly Rowland

It's "Kelendria Trene Rowland." 

4/42
Carmen Electra
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Carmen Electra

Much sexier than Tara Leigh Patrick, TBH. (Props to the belated Prince for coming up with the new version (opens in new tab).)

5/42
Nina Dobrev
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Nina Dobrev

Nikolina Konstantinova Dobreva has a certain ring to it, no? 

6/42
John Legend
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John Legend

It takes balls to go from John Roger Stephens to "Legend," but he did it. 

7/42
Pink
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Pink

One name is *always* better than three, even if it's "Alecia Beth Moore."

8/42
Blake Lively
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Blake Lively

Born Blake Ellender Brown, she adopted her mom's last name when she started acting. <3

9/42
Lorde
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Lorde

Some of her squad members/friends still call her Ella (Yelich-O'Connor). 

10/42
Lady Gaga
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Lady Gaga

Meanwhile, though they're no more (opens in new tab), ex-fiancé Taylor Kinney definitely called her by her given name Stefani (Joanne Angelina Germanotta). 

11/42
Reese Witherspoon
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Reese Witherspoon

To quote a fellow editor: "My fave different name is Reese Witherspoon, because her name is Laura. And it's like, you look way more like a Laura, TBH." (Reese is her second middle name.) 

12/42
Rihanna
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Rihanna

You know about the Fenty part (opens in new tab). But did you know her real first name's Robyn? 

13/42
Theo James
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Theo James

Because "Theodore Peter James Kinnaird Taptiklis" wouldn't fit on a marquee/anything, really. 

14/42
Rooney Mara
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Rooney Mara

It's actually Patricia.

15/42
Lana Del Rey
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Lana Del Rey

Elizabeth Grant would not get summertime sadness. Lana Del Rey freaking *invented* summertime sadness. 

16/42
Miley Cyrus
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Miley Cyrus

She legally changed her name (opens in new tab) to Miley Ray Cyrus from "Destiny Hope."

17/42
Kat Dennings
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Kat Dennings

Last name Litwack, first name still Kat (from Katherine). 

18/42
Jon Stewart
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Jon Stewart

Another one who legally changed (opens in new tab) his name—from Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz—to what he goes by on stage. 

19/42
Jay Z
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Jay Z

You know this one: Shawn Corey Carter. 

20/42
Drake
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Drake

And probably this one, from that GIF of young Aubrey Graham dancing in a tiny vest. 

21/42
Calvin Harris
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Calvin Harris

Before they were kaput/sworn enemies, Taylor Swift called him by his real name: Adam Richard Wiles. 

22/42
Mila Kunis
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Mila Kunis

Milena Markovna Kunis sounds pretty too. 

23/42
Emma Stone
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Emma Stone

True story:  She changed her name (opens in new tab) to Emma from Emily Jean because of her obsession with the Spice Girls, particularly Baby Spice/Emma Lee Bunton.

24/42
Nicki Minaj
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Nicki Minaj

Onika Tanya Maraj, which is like an anagram. IS IT AN ANAGRAM? 

25/42
Bruno Mars
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Bruno Mars

It's Peter Gene Hernandez. But he'll always be Bruno in our hearts.

26/42
Iggy Azalea
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Iggy Azalea

Amethyst! Amelia! Kelly!

27/42
Kim Cattrall
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Kim Cattrall

ICYMI, she's British. Which explains the Clare Woodgate. 

28/42
Brad Pitt
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Brad Pitt

Because William Bradley Pitt sounds like the friend of a friend of a Founding Father. 

29/42
Marilyn Monroe
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Marilyn Monroe

No Norma Jean Mortensen for this one.

30/42
Diane Keaton
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Diane Keaton

Yup—Diane Hall, like Annie Hall. 

31/42
Audrey Hepburn
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Audrey Hepburn

Edda Kathleen van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston...yeah.

32/42
Helen Mirren
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Helen Mirren

Similarly, Ilyena Lydia Mironoff. 

33/42
Natalie Portman
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Natalie Portman

If we were going by birth names, her Oscar would read "Natalie Hershlag."

34/42
Kit Harington
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Kit Harington

Real name: Christopher Catesby Harington. Awwww. 

35/42
Lily James
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Lily James

Following the trend of compact, easy-to-pronounce names, hers is Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson. 

36/42
Demi Moore
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Demi Moore

Once upon a time, Demetria Guynes married singer Freddy Moore and kept his name after the divorce. A true Hollywood fairytale. 

37/42
Julianne Moore
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Julianne Moore

Julie Anne stitched her two names together...and emerged an Oscar winner and Tom Ford muse. 

38/42
Alicia Keys
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Alicia Keys

"Keys" is maybe a little more apt job-wise than "Alicia Augello Cook."

39/42
Lucy Hale
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Lucy Hale

Karen, but she goes by a shortened version of her middle name–Lucille.

40/42
Olivia Wilde
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Olivia Wilde

No relation to Oscar Wilde, except in a literary sense. (She dropped Cockburn (opens in new tab) in honor of the writers in her family.) 

41/42
Tina Fey
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Tina Fey

Funny how Elizabeth Stamatina Fey went on to play a Liz (Lemon). 

42/42
Katy Perry
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Katy Perry

Simple: Kate Hudson was already taken.

Chelsea Peng
Chelsea Peng
Assistant Editor

Chelsea Peng is a writer and editor who was formerly the assistant editor at MarieClaire.com. She's also worked for The Strategist and Refinery29, and is a graduate of Northwestern University. On her tombstone, she would like a GIF of herself that's better than the one that already exists on the Internet and a free fro-yo machine. Besides frozen dairy products, she's into pirates, carbs, Balzac, and snacking so hard she has to go lie down.