Celebrity Names: The Original Names of Famous People Who Have Changed Their Real Name

Here are the original names of celebs and other famous people. Most changed their name to make a more “user friendly” name for people to remember. Many were foreign names changed to sound more American. Others just wanted a more memorable hook… here is a list of the original, first names of celebrities who have changed their name:

Alan Alda – Alphonso D’Abruzzo

Albert Brooks – Albert Lawrence Einstein

Alice Cooper – Vincent Damon Furnier

Alicia Keys – Alicia Augello Cook

Andr̩ 3000 РAndr̩ Benjamin

Anne Bancroft – Anna Maria Italiano

Ashok Kumar – Kumudlal Kanjilal Ganguly
Babyface – Kenneth Edmonds

Barry Manilow – Barry Alan Pincus

Bela Lugosi – Be’la Ferenc Dezso Blasko

Big Boi РAntwan Andr̩ Patton

Billie Holiday – Eleanora Fagan

Billy Idol – William Michael Albert Broad

Billy Ocean – Leslie Charles

Bo Diddley – Elias Bates

Bob Dylan – Robert Zimmerman

Bob Hope – Leslie Townes Hope

Bobby Darin – Walden Robert Cassotto

Bonnie Tyler – Gaynor Hopkins

Bono – Paul Hewson

Boris Karloff – William Henry Pratt

Boy George – George Alan O’Dowd

Buddy Holly – Charles Hardin Holley

Burt Holiday – Bonaldo Bonaldi
Cary Grant – Archibald Alexander Leach

Cat Stevens – Stephen Demetre Georgiou. He later changed his name to Yusuf Islam

Chaka Khan – Yvette Stevens

Charlie Sheen – Carlos Irwin Estevez

Charlton Heston – John Charles Carter

Che Guevara – Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna

Cher – Cherilyn Sarkisian

Chuck Norris – Carlos Ray

Cilla Black – Priscilla White

Conway Twitty – Harold Jenkins

Coolio – Artis Ivey, Jr.
Danny Kaye – David Daniel Kaminski

David Bowie – David Robert Jones

David Copperfield – David Seth Kotkin

Dean Martin – Dino Crocetti

Demi Moore – Demetria Guynes

Diane Keaton – Diane Hall

Donna Summer – Ladonna Andrea Gaines

Doris Day – Doris Mary Ann Von Kappelhoff

Dr. Dre – Andre Young.

Dusty Springfield – Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien
Elton John – Reginald Kenneth Dwight

Elvis Costello – Declan Patrick Aloysius McManus

Engelbert Humperdinck – Arnold Dorsey (why the hell would he change it to THAT????)

Ernest Borgnine – Ermes Effron Borgnino

Ernie Wise – Ernest Wiseman

Frankie Valli – Francis Castelluccio

Fred Astaire – Frederick Austerlitz

Freddie Mercury – Faroukh Bulsara
Gale Storm – Josephine Owaissa Cottle

Gary Glitter – Paul Francis Gadd

Gene Simmons – Chaim Witz

Gene Wilder – Jerome Silberman

George Michael – Georgios Panayiotou

George Orwell – Eric Arthur Blair

Ginger Rogers – Virginia Katherine McMath

Greta Garbo – Greta Lovisa Gustafsson

Groucho Marx – Julius Henry Marx
Harry Houdini – Ehrich Weiss

Hulk Hogan – Terry Jean Bollette
Ice Cube – O’Shea Jackson

Ice T – Tracy Morrow
Jamie Foxx – Eric Bishop

Jean-Claude Van Damme РJean-Claude Camille Fran̤ois Van Varenberg

Jerry Lewis – Joseph Levitch

Joan Crawford – Lucille Fay LeSueur

Jodie Foster – Alicia Christian Foster.

John Denver – Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr.

John Ford – Sean Aloysius O’Fearna

John Wayne – Marion Michael Morrison

Johnny Rotten – John Joseph Lydon

Jon Stewart – Jonathon Leibowitz

Joni Mitchell – Roberta Joan Anderson

Joseph Stalin – Iosif Vissarionovich Djugashvili

Judy Garland – Frances Gumm

Judy Holliday – Judith Tuvim

Kirk Douglas – Issur Danielovitch Demsky

Lauren Bacall – Betty Joan Perske

Leon Trotsky – Lev Davidovich Bronstein

Les Paul – Lester Polfuss

Little Richard – Richard Wayne Penniman

LL Cool J – James Todd Smith
Madonna – Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone.

Mariah Carey РMaria Nu̱ez

Marilyn Manson – Brian Warner

Marilyn Monroe – Norma Jean Mortenson. Then Norma Jean Baker

Mark Twain – Samuel Langhorne Clemens

Martin Sheen – Ramón Estévez

Meat Loaf – Marvin Lee Aday

Meg Ryan – Margaret Mary Emily Ann Hyra

Mel Brooks – Melvin Kaminsky

Michael Caine – Maurice Micklewhite

Michael Keaton – Michael John Douglas

Moby – Richard Melville Hall

Mother Teresa – Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu

Mr. T – Lawrence Tero

Muddy Waters – McKinley Morganfield
Natalie Portman – Natalie Hershlag

Natalie Wood – Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko
Jack Palance – Volodymyr Palahniuk in Ukraine.

Patti Page – Clara Ann Fowler

Pel̩ РEdson Arantes do Nascimento

Pink – Alecia Moore

Prince – Prince Rogers Nelson. (According to reliable internet sources, he later changed it a record 743 times, including “the artist formally known as the artist formally known as Prince”. Some sources indicate he is in the process of changing it to “Bob”.)
Queen Latifah – Dana Owens
Ray Charles – Ray Charles Robinson

Ringo Starr – Richard Starkey

Ritchie Valens – Ricardo Valenzuela

Rock Hudson – Roy Harold Scherer Jr.
Seal – Sealhenry Samuel

Shania Twain – Eileen Regina Edwards

Snoop Dogg – Calvin Broadus

Sophia Loren – Sofia Villani Scicolone

Stevie Wonder – Steveland Morris

Sting – Gordon Sumner

Sugar – Stephanie Beard

Sugar Ray Robinson – Walker Smith Jr.

Susan Hayward – Edythe Marrenner

Susan Sarandon – Susan Abigail Tomalin
T-Bone Walker – Aaron Thibeaux Walker

The Edge – David Evans

The Notorious B.I.G. – Christopher Wallace

The Rock – Dwayne Douglas Johnson

Tina Turner – Anna Mae Bullock

Tom Cruise – Thomas Cruise Mapother IV

Tony Curtis – Bernard Schwartz

Totò – Antonio de Curtis Gagliardi Griffo Focas Comneno
Vangelis – Evangelos Odyssey Papathanassiou

Vanilla Ice – Robert Van Winkle

Vivien Leigh – Vivian Mary Hartley

Voltaire РFran̤ois-Marie Arouet
William Holden – William Franklin Beedle Jr.

Winona Ryder – Winona Laura Horowitz

Whoopie Goldberg – Caryn Johnson

Woody Allen – Allen Stewart Konigsberg

 

 

Page Topic: Celebrity Names