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Celebrity Original Names: Famous people’s names before they were changed
Here are the original names of celebrities and famous people who changed their 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, in alphabetical order, of the original, first names of celebrities who changed their name.
(If you know of some that I missed, please feel free to email me at mail @ innocentenglish.com)
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 Original Names
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2 Responses to “Celebrity Original Names: Famous people’s names before they were changed””
COMMENT (Not all comments are approved, including rude comments and those with strong language).
Section: Celebrity Central: Funny Celeb Stuff
February 4th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Ralph Lauren………real name Ralpf Lifshitz
June 13th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
this page is very informative and if possible can u add more to the list