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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
André 3000 - André 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 - Antwan André 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 - Jean-Claude Camille François 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 - Maria Nuñez
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
Pelé - Edson 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 - François-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
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Section: Celebrity Central: Funny Celeb Stuff, Popular Boy & Girl Baby Names