Did you know that Tom Cruise didn’t use his official birth name in Hollywood? Well, his four-letter name (his real name is revealed below) was quite a mouthful, and so his agent suggested that changing the name to something simpler would be better.
While the reason behind Tom Cruise’s name change was quite simple and valid, it is not the case for all celebrities. Some of these stars have quite exciting and unbelievable reasons behind their stage names.
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Hollywood Celebrities Whose Changed Their Real Names
Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars’ stage name is quite exceptional, and his official birth name, Peter Gene Hernandez, is no less. The origin of his stage name is fascinating. The ‘Silk Sonic’ member was chubby when he was young. As a result, his father called him Bruno, referring to the big fat wrestler, Bruno Sammartino. For the last name, Mars, Bruno gave quite a savvy back story which goes, “because a lot of girls say I’m out of this world!”
Gigi Hadid
Gigi Hadid’s birth name is Jelena Hadid. The name ‘Gigi’ is a nickname used by her mother. ‘Jelena’ could have most probably confused people into thinking it’s Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez’s ship name.
Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise’s real name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV. The fancy and sophisticated name feels something that came out of the royal family.
Demi Moore
Demi Moore’s real name is Demetria Gene Guynes. Her mother named her Demetria, which was inspired by a shampoo she spotted while flipping the pages of a magazine. Meanwhile, Guynes is the surname of the person Demi believed to be her biological dad. Later, she found out that her biological father was a man named Charles Harman. Still, she kept the surname of her stepfather and later changed it to Moore after her first husband, Freddy Moore.
Katy Perry
Katy Perry would have been known as Katheryn Hudson if she had not decided to adopt the stage name she uses currently. She had earlier performed as Katheryn Perry before finally signing up as Katy Perry. The sole reason behind changing her name was so that people do not get her confused with the American actress Kate Hudson.
Albert Brooks
The American actor, comedian, and filmmaker, Albert Brooks, had all the reasons to change his name, because who would have wanted to enter Hollywood by sharing the word-to-word name with the scientist, Albert Einstein?
Kit Harington
Kit Harington, or famously known as Jon Snow, is actually Christopher Catesby Harington. Talking with Glamour, Kit explained that till the age of 11, he didn’t even know his real name is Christopher. However, since he recognised himself more with Kit, he continued with this name. Even his parents could see he was more of a Kit. “I think they could see that I wanted to be Kit, but Christopher was a bit of a tradition. My brother’s name is Jack, but his real name is John. Kit is traditionally an offshoot of Christopher, it’s just not used that often. My middle name is Catesby,” he shared.
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston’s true family name was Anistassakis, which her father changed to Aniston. Her father was born in Greece with the name Yannis Anistassakis. As he emigrated to the United States, he legally adopted the name, John Aniston, and this is what he handed down to his daughter, Jennifer Aniston.
Emma Stone
Emily Jean Stone is the ‘La La Land‘ actress’ real name. Talking to W Magazine, she narrated the story behind her name, “My real name is Emily. But it was taken at SAG. I was 16…. So to ask a 16-year-old to pick a new name is really an interesting process, because I was like, ‘I’m going to be Riley.’ And so my name was Riley Stone for about six months.” However, changing her name to Riley didn’t work, since Stone would forget to reply when addressed as Riley. “So then I changed it to Emma, because you know, it’s closer to Emily, but most people call me ‘M,’ that know me well.”
Nina Dobrev
‘The Vampire Diaries‘ star, Nina Dobrev’s birth name, is Nikolina Konstantinova Dobreva. She was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. As she stepped into the acting career, she best thought to change her name into something smaller and easier, so that her fans could easily remember and pronounce her name.
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