42 Celebrities Who Were Born with Different Names

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published 27 August 16

"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

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

2/42

Ashton Kutcher

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

3/42

Kelly Rowland

It's "Kelendria Trene Rowland."

4/42

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

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

6/42

John Legend

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

7/42

Pink

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

8/42

Blake Lively

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

9/42

Lorde

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

10/42

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

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

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

13/42

Theo James

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

14/42

Rooney Mara

It's actually Patricia.

15/42

Lana Del Rey

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

16/42

Miley Cyrus

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

17/42

Kat Dennings

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

18/42

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

You know this one: Shawn Corey Carter.

20/42

Drake

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

21/42

Calvin Harris

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

22/42

Mila Kunis

Milena Markovna Kunis sounds pretty too.

23/42

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

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

25/42

Bruno Mars

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

26/42

Iggy Azalea

Amethyst! Amelia! Kelly!

27/42

Kim Cattrall

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

28/42

Brad Pitt

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

29/42

Marilyn Monroe

No Norma Jean Mortensen for this one.

30/42

Diane Keaton

Yup—Diane Hall, like Annie Hall.

31/42

Audrey Hepburn

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

32/42

Helen Mirren

Similarly, Ilyena Lydia Mironoff.

33/42

Natalie Portman

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

34/42

Kit Harington

Real name: Christopher Catesby Harington. Awwww.

35/42

Lily James

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

36/42

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

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

38/42

Alicia Keys

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

39/42

Lucy Hale

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

40/42

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

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

42/42

Katy Perry

Simple: Kate Hudson was already taken.

Chelsea Peng

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.