What If Celebrities Went By Their Real Names? (PICTURES)

There are several reasons for a performer to change his name. Maybe someone famous already exists with that moniker or maybe someone thinks he'll never get famous with a name like Marion. Whatever the reason, some of our favorite celebrities have ditched their birth names and replaced them with stage names. We at HuffPost Comedy imagined a world in which that never happened.

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NOOTPOSTSFORISREAL said on 28 Tuesday 2010 pm30 3:55 pm: Elvis Costello's true identity is Declan MacManus, international art thief.

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Should've kept it! Great change!

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Comments

[leskataus]

09:25 PM on 10/02/2010

Sometimes celebrities will pick names to avoid being only known as another celebrity's sibling. Peter Graves was the brother of actor James Arness. Their real last name was Aurness. Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty are siblings. Shirley uses only her first and middle names and dropped her last name while her brother uses his middle and last name. His first name is really Henry.

[leskataus]

09:21 PM on 10/02/2010

From what I've heard about Whoopi Goldberg, she picked her first name from whoopie cushions because she ate a diet high in garbanzo beans and suffered flatulence as a result. She said the Goldberg came from a family name.

[MJinCanada]

03:46 PM on 10/01/2010

In a different twist, William Henry Pratt changed his name to Boris Karloff, partly because it was a more exotic, movie villain sort of name and partly because he worried that his respectable English family might be embarrassed.

[BrianMac]

11:25 AM on 10/01/2010

If you want to hear a doozy of a stage name search story, check out Michael Keaton's. Hell: just look at several of them:

http://www.cracked.com/article_18613_6-insane-true-stories-behind-stage-names-celebrities.html

The Michael J. Fox one is rather interesting (and just beyond the fact that the "J" doesn't reference any part of his given name).

[leskataus]

09:14 PM on 10/02/2010

Micjael J, Fox took the "J" in honor of MIchael J. Pollard, who is another dimunitive actor.

[Oilvike]

02:28 AM on 10/01/2010

Well, on Night Court, Dan Fielding's name was really Reinhold Elmore.

[Tara Greene]

01:05 AM on 10/01/2010

farewell Bernie Schwartz - Tony Curtis, famous as actress Jamie Lee Curtis' dad; for playing the Cary Grant type cad and drag queen Josephine in an "all girl band" in the 30's in Some Like it Hot with Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe etc. He was incredibly handsome in the 50's. We'll miss him.

[charles116]

11:00 PM on 09/30/2010

Psssssssst.
My real name is Charles123.

[Wanjiru]

10:57 PM on 09/30/2010

Tom Cruise (#4) is Thomas Who-now?!! LOL.
.

[HoChi Minh One]

09:19 PM on 09/30/2010

Eric Bouchet...any guesses?

[charles116]

11:03 PM on 09/30/2010

Should I google it - I'm already on the computer.
Actually I will Yahoo it. We are boycotting google.

[Gwendolyn Rothschild]

08:49 PM on 09/30/2010

Musician/Artist David Bowie -- David Robert Hayward-Jones, Portugal Artist Cristina Canas-- Cristina Fernandes Canas Pinto,Singer Madonna -- Madonna Louise Ciccone, Singer/Actress Cher -- Cherilyn Sarkisian, Actress Marilyn Monroe -- Norma Jean Mortensen ,Actress Jodie Foster -- Alicia Christian Foster, Singer/Actor Sting -- Gordon Matthew Sumner, I think they all made the right decision, changing their names, it just sounds better. http://www.cc-finearts.com/

[BrianMac]

07:04 PM on 09/30/2010

For you folks who just can't understand why celebrities, especially actors, do not stick with their birth names, a little instruction is in order as to why celebrities change their names:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stage_name#Motivation_to_use_a_stage_name

Check it out before rolling your eyes.

[Wanjiru]

10:58 PM on 09/30/2010

Thank you for info.
Can I roll eyes now? :)
.

[BrianMac]

11:18 AM on 10/01/2010

Yes, you may! Many celebrities don't actually change their name; they just adopt a stage, screen or air name and keep their given name for other purposes.

[MJinCanada]

06:55 PM on 09/30/2010

The late John Vernon, known for his lovely deep voice and elegant portrayal of villains was born Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz in Zehner, Saskatchewan.

He missed the entire alphabet by only 7 letters.

[BrianMac]

11:20 AM on 10/01/2010

Great Montgomery Scott! Perhaps he should have just called himself Arva (A.R.V.A.).

[MJinCanada]

03:17 PM on 10/01/2010

Well, I guess he just picked the bit that was easy for the reviewers and fans to spell and/or pronounce. Not that Agopsowicz is all that difficult, really. It's pronounced just as it's spelled and vice versa. (Accent on second syllable.)

[maori]

06:20 PM on 09/30/2010

I think Caryn is pretty spelled that way.

[VanTroi]

03:53 AM on 10/01/2010

I like the real name better

[leskataus]

09:16 PM on 10/02/2010

She goes by her real name in private. It's just that her real last name is very common and there is likely another actress of that name registered with the SAG.

[Longbaugh]

05:14 PM on 09/30/2010

Celebrities do this stuff almost as if just for fun. Brad Pitt's first name is William (Brad is his middle name). William Pitt sounds just fine.

[AbuHamza]

05:33 PM on 09/30/2010

Bill Pitt? :)

[Hard2kill]

06:45 PM on 09/30/2010

Its William Bradley "Brad" Pitt and I think that's pretty fine....

How about:
Stacy Ann Ferguson - Fergie
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta - Lady gaga
Nicolas Kim Coppola - Nicolas Cage
Carlos Irwin Estévez - Charlie Sheen

[TechGuy036]

04:11 PM on 09/30/2010

Kudos to Meryl Streep for keeping her actual last name. I'm sure at some point she was pressured to change it, but she stuck with "Streep".

[Gwendolyn Rothschild]

08:52 PM on 09/30/2010

Meryl Streep...Streep sounds good...great she stuck with it,,,

[leskataus]

09:18 PM on 10/02/2010

She did change her first name. Meryl is a combination of her first and middle names Mary Louise.

[charles116]

10:59 PM on 09/30/2010

Perhaps Street was suggested.

On an interesting note Tovah Feldhah's real first name is TerrySue.

I wished the Law and Order folks turned HER character into a series.
Din not care for L&H LA.

[charles116]

11:04 PM on 09/30/2010

L&O, pardon.