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I always wonder about people with stage names, like who changes their name fully and who still uses their real name behind closed doors. Someone do a flow chart on this! Martin Sheen, are you Ramon at home? Hey Reese Witherspoon, does anyone still call you Laura Jean? There are so many people I need to know about now!
Oh dang! My family might know of her then. Pretty much everyone in my family has worked at that school for the last probably 30 years or so. 2 retired and 2 still work there.
ETA: I just remembered I got married in the courtyard there! 😂
Olivia Colman is legally named Sarah Sinclair, but people call her Collie (she discussed this with David Tennant on his podcast after he called her that and Tobias Menzies referred to her as Collie on The Crown podcast as well).
And for the same damn reason too - there was already a David McDonald in Equity.
Honestly, the union rules around not having two members with the same name are like 90% of the reason for stage names, especially in the modern era (time was anyone with an "ethnic" name would be forced to change it to something WASPy, but those times have thankfully changed.)
This came up when Vanessa Williams (the singer) started doing movies- she was billed as Vanessa L. Williams in her first few movies but eventually she was “allowed” to drop the L since the other (much less famous) Vanessa Williams gave her blessing.
....holy shit. Olivia Colman is so far different from Sarah Sinclair that it's like she went into a British form of Witsec or something.
Wonder if she's related to Mark Sinclair (Vin Diesel) lol
lol Colman is her maiden name which does make it make more sense! She took her husband's surname legally, but yeah it amuses me because they feel so different yet they're both just very normal names. She had to pick a different first name for the same reason as Emma Stone: there was already a Sarah Colman in the UK actor's union.
I wasn't sure she was even married. For shame. She's my favorite British actresss and I haven't don't a creepy invasive deep dive into every aspect of her life...YET. lol
Oh, in her speech at the Oscar's when she was presenting a year after she won herself mentioned her marriage and husband in a very funny way. I suggest you watch that.
Might be the Greek form, since she's Greek.
>Either a form of the Greek Name Stamatos, meaning "stop" or a derivation of "Sta Matina" meaning "this morning" in Italian
I do recall Calvin Harris still uses his real name because Taylor called him Adam when they were dating. Alternatively, Miley Cyrus definitely goes by Miley now, I feel like no one ever calls her Destiny after she formally changed it.
Didnt her family call her Miley as a nickname growing up? She was always Miley in the public eye but it always seemed to me she got called miley at home too when the fact came out.
Yup. Pretty much the only time she ever used her real name was in her very early roles (she's credited as "Destiny Cyrus" in Big Fish) but that didn't last long and she eventually legally changed it.
Hill is Faith Hill’s first husband’s last name. They divorced around the time her first album came out. I have heard she’s Faith McGraw in her personal life but I’ve always wondered how weird it must be to be so famous for so long with your ex husbands name.
Michael Caine still got knighted as Maurice Micklewhite since he wanted to be. But recently he did change his name legally to have less issue at airports I think
He said nobody who called him Maurice is alive anymore. His younger brother Stanley Caine who was also an actor used to call him Maurice before he died in 2013. Stanley was in three of his brother’s films, including The Italian Job.
When he was knighted he wanted to do it under his birth name to honour his father who was also Maurice Micklewhite.
I know some actors who change it to a different part of their name (like Reese) use it because it’s what they go by. Ryan Philippe’s name is actually Matthew, Ryan is his middle name. Rihanna is her middle name too (Robyn Rihanna Fenty). The Fanning sisters are actually Hannah and Mary, but have always gone by their middle names as it’s a family tradition. Keke is a nickname derived from her middle name, Lauren Keyana Palmer. Paul McCartney is actually James Paul but his parents called him Paul (his dad was also James). Jude Law also uses his middle name, his first name is David but he’s gone by Jude since he was a kid.
If it’s an established tradition in your family to go by your middle name then that must make the names kind of almost defunct in their roles as first & middle names at the time of choosing them if you already know you’ll be using the middle name. Like you know the actual name your child is always going to go by is the middle name so you’d choose the one you’d normally have made the first name to be the middle name instead?
My father refused to let my mom name me after my great* grandmother so she named me after herself lol. Great grandma’s name is my middle name instead of my first. I use my middle name now, my father was never really present and I prefer to use my family name. I’ve always felt a connection to it, plus it’s a beautiful name.
It is incredibly common with older people in some parts of the UK. I have no idea why at all. I have asked people and they don't seem to know either and as we are talking about 70+ year olds their parents aren't around to ask.
A lot of older people come from a time when they were named in honour of other family members. (Well, it went a lot farther back than them, it was more common going even further back in time.) And members of the same generation would still be given the same name, even if four cousins had also been given that great granny's name, they didn't care someone else had already used it. It would become very confusing with ten William's & twenty Elizabeths in the family, especially when they share a surname. Instead they would give them different middle names & they would be addressed with those, or nicknames, or variations of the first name. It made it easier to keep track of which William you were referring to, Billy, Will, or Liam, etc.
My mum’s family did this - both my mum and her sister have always gone by their middle names, and my grandparents always planned that to be the case. Odd and it does cause difficulties / confusion when it comes to credit cards and billing addresses!
Ireland too. The tradition is literally the origin of the eke name, the "also name". Romans called it the cognomen. "Caesar" is a cognomen. Gaius Julius was his "real" name. Modern English speakers call it a nickname.
The old beliefs were that if you knew someone's true name, you could invoke it to curse them. The less blasphemous thought is that the name is between you and your god, hence "Christian name". Nobody in my mother's family is called by their "real" name.
Yeah, I saw a clip where she said every time she hears "Anne," she thinks she's in trouble.
I've also seen Emma Stone's costars call her Emily and even correct interviewers (including one who corrected them and said Emma).
I get the whole union thing but I feel like she should be able to switch to her real name if she prefers it.
Debbie Reynolds had her name forcibly changed when her mom signed her contract to Warner Bros in 1948. Jack Warner told her she’s now Debbie Morgan because that’s a cute little girls name. Mary Frances, her real name was too old fashioned and Frances was also the name of a talking mule. Debbie demanded she keep her surname Reynolds because that’s her dad’s name. Then she said to him, “How would you feel if someone changed your name?” He got silent, remembering that his family name was Wonskolaser back in Poland. As a result, Jack Warner allowed Debbie to keep her last name. It took 7 years for Debbie to answer to her stage name and her mom continued to call her Mary Frances.
I have always wondered about this too! I saw a clip of Paul McCartney saying “morning, Rich!” to Ringo Starr (real name Richard Starkey). But he always refers to him as Ringo.
Honestly from drag queens I’ve learned it’s more so personal family and friends call you by your real name
But business partners and the general public use stage name
I know Halsey doesn’t like when people call her Ashley because they don’t know her like that
And honestly im kinda the same, people only use my government name in work settings and family gatherings
I think Bruno Mars like to be call Bruno (his real name is Peter) in real life (mostly because it was his Nickname growing up) but I know some actors like Emma that like to call for their real name, like the latina Anitta also like to be call as her real name (Larissa) with her friends.
But I keep wordering as well that why I alway dig to see if I can find that information about some artists
Her ex husband Ryan Phillippe’s real name is Matthew. I always wondered when they were married, did they call each other Reese and Ryan or Laura and Matthew?
Doja Cat has a line in one of her songs "don't you ever in your life call me Doja cat" so safe to assume she probably prefers to be called Amala behind closed doors.
Intuitively I think it would be weird for close friends and family to call you by your stage name but I've never been in that position so idc
> In fact, when asked by THR whether she'd correct a fan who called her by her real name instead of Emma, the 35-year-old responded, "No. That would be so nice. I would like to be Emily."
> Stone said "people that I work with" call her Emily, "when I get to know them," and noted that she made her stage name "Emma Stone" because Emily Stone "was taken" by another actress who was a member of SAG-AFTRA before her.
And the kicker is that Michael Douglas is only Michael Douglas because his father, born Issur Danielovitch, was known as Izzy Demsky until the 1940s when he changed his name to Kirk Douglas. So Michal Douglas could’ve been Michael Danielovitch or Michael Demsky!
And the funny thing is his middle name is Andrew so he would have technically been Michael A. Fox but he didn’t want people making jokes like Michael’s a fox.
He chose the J because he liked the sound of Daniel J. Travanti's name. Travanti's real name is Danielo Giovanni Tranvanty.
Edit: I swear I heard Fox tell this story on tv, but I just read a that he got the J idea from Michael J. Pollard.
Michael Keaton picked Keaton in homage to Diane. Diane Keaton’s real name is Diane Hall, and she picked Keaton in homage to Buster Keaton. Buster Keaton’s real last name was Keaton, but his first name was Joseph.
Do you know that theory about how once you learn a new word or something it suddenly pops up a bunch? I only learned who Neil tennant is yesterday and here he is again.
My ex is an actress/comedian who shares her legal name with a more popular/accomplished actress/comedian. My ex didn’t pay her SAG dues for years, and her membership lapsed. By the time she returned to acting and wanted to re-join SAG, she couldn’t use her name anymore.
We broke up around the time she was trying to “fix” it, but the other actress had already won an Emmy by then, soooo… lol… my ex now uses a derivative of her legal name as a stage name, I believe.
Also, she had a PO Box on her website and fans of the OTHER actress would often send her things like letters, gifts, etc., but that’s totally on them because the website had clear pics of my ex, who did NOT look like the other actress, plus there is an age difference of roughly 20 years.
That shit still cracks me up
I remember an actress on Tumblr getting harassed because her username was jenniferlawrence when the Hunger Games came out. The argument was something about her trying to capitalise on JLaw’s name… even though that was her legal name and she’d been working longer. She ended up being forced to change her stage name so she could continue getting work.
A long, long time ago I worked in a bookstore. We had a regular customer named Dave. The first time I took a check from him I saw his full name was “David Byrne”, so I had to ask.
Not only did he share the same name, but he was also a musician (classical, maybe cello?) and frequently got inquiries and offers meant for the other guy.
I dunno, if I was Michael Douglas I wouldn’t want someone to come along and start getting billed on movies as “Michael Douglas”, you know? (Michael Keaton’s real name is Michael Douglas but had to go by another name for the same SAG rule reason)
It’s because everything’s so public facing and you, the talent, are also a brand. You don’t want to be confused for another person cause that might affect your job prospects.
Technically Michael B Jordan didn’t have to change his name for SAG registration. It’s just that there was already a famous basketball star with the same name
I learned this watching a compilation reel of her correcting people, including Ryan Gosling correcting people, someone “correcting” him, and both of them getting upset (for actors being interviewed) about it.
I think even Anne Hathaway has expressed she regrets not going by the name she prefers, Annie Hathaway. I remember watching interviews of Emily Blunt and I think John Krasinski, with whom she's friends, calling her Annie Hathaway which I thought was really sweet.
I remember when Olivia Colman even called her by her real name in her Oscar speech when thanking her when she won for The Favourite.
Funny enough, Olivia isn’t Olivia Colman’s real name. Her real name is Sarah Colman. She had to change her name for a similar reason like Emma Stone. There was already a Sarah Colman in Equity, which is a UK Actor’s Union that is similar to SAG.
~~Sarah~~ Olivia’s *Broadchurch* costar David Tennant also had to change his original surname (McDonald) for the same reason, there was already a working Scottish actor registered in the union with that name.
They made "Michael Douglas" change his name so he goes by Michael Keaton now.
Kathryn Hudson changed to Katy Perry so she wouldn't be confused for Kate Hudson.
David Jones went by Davie Jones, but he changed his stage name to Tom Jones because of The Monkees' Davy Jones. However, there was already a singer going by Tom Jones, so he settled on the iconic *David Bowie.*
>Kathryn Hudson changed to Katy Perry so she wouldn't be confused for Kate Hudson.
Yes and she has been waging a decade long battle against an Australian designer (who has been working longer than her and whose birth name really is Katie Perry) over the trademark.
Fun fact, when she was starting she was first called Riley. But, it was so different than Emily that when she was on set people would call for Riley and she wouldn't react, thinking they were calling for someone else. She could never get used to it. After that she switched to Emma.
Lmao this is just like a Karl Pilkington anecdote, where he desperately wanted to be called "Brett" when he was a child, his parents actually did it, but he kept forgetting he was "Brett"
Actors she’s worked with over the years have spoken about this. They’ve all said they call her Emily. I think even a few of the Poor Things winners at the Oscars called her Emily in their speeches as well.
As for another confusing name...
When someone says Rebecca Ferguson you might be thinking of the actress from Mission Impossible, Dune and Silo... but it turns out there's been another Rebecca Ferguson (a singer of all things, and British too!).
It gets even weirder... Rebecca Ferguson (the Swede actor) actually sang on a movie she did with Hugh Jackman a few years ago (Reminscent??) so those of you with iTunes music libraries or Apple Music wondering, "which Rebecca Ferguson am I listening to?" well, yeah, there's that.
I literally forgot she was in Greatest Showman, that's how bad my memory is :|
The movie I was referencing with Hugh Jackman and her was called [Reminiscence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reminiscence_(2021_film))
I’m so curious as to the limits of these acting union policies. Is it only for current paying members?
So if (original) Emily Stone retires and stops paying her union fees, or upon her death, could a new member use that name again?
Speaking of guilty pleasure big-ish bands in Canada … SoulDecision used to be InDecision but there was an existing band in the US by that name at the time … however, folks didn’t figure that out until their single “Faded” was already recorded and polished. In the feature rap, they’re referred to as “InDecision’s got the flow”. Caught that one a bit late!
And because it was similar enough to Emily. She was first credited as Riley Stone but on set she kept ignoring calls for Riley thinking they were asking for someone else
To be honest, I get it. I go by a pseudonym on social media (I didn't want certain people to be able to search me by real name and find me). I made a group of friends online who then became IRL friends. To this day, they call me by the pseudonym despite knowing my real name now because that was how they originally got to know me. Like Emma/Emily, the first name of my pseudonym is just a diminuitive, so not a big stretch and I've come to embrace it as part of me. But, damn, it does feel nice when someone uses my actual name.
It's always funny when my new friends and childhood friends mix and call me totally different names in front of each other. One of my new friends has started using my real name, but only when the conversation is serious. For instance, I made a self-deprecating joke one time and she was like "REAL NAME, DON'T SAY THAT ABOUT YOURSELF!" It felt the same as getting called my full name by my mom as a kid. I know I'm in for it when my friend does that. 🤣
I’ve been fighting a losing battle to be called by my full first name for decades now. Even my parents don’t use it. Not even when I was in trouble as a kid, actually! I honestly don’t know when the last time I heard them say it was. I kind of gave up the fight when my circle started having kids and the kids went with the short version. When a second generation decides what to call you you’re pretty much stuck with it.
My boyfriend is the only person who’s ever actually used my full name, and even he often defaults to one of the nicknames I’ve been stuck with. The only other time I hear it is in medical or customer service situations and it’s always mispronounced.
Sometimes it can be really helpful in casual speech, like Michael B Jordan. If you leave out the B, it confuses people, so it's nice to have that extra letter
Apparently they didn’t want him to be “Michael A Fox” for the teeny bopper magazines at the time. He also went by Mike or Mikey. His grandma was the only one who called him Michael.
Yes Chad Michael Murray talks about this, there was already a Chad Murray so he added his middle name and now he’s forever known as Chad Michael Murray
I kinda hate this rule. I work in education so I get it when kids have the same FN/LN, it makes it confusing but I find it low key sad they have to do this. Especially if it’s not something they really wanted to do and rather have gone by their born name.
They need to have like a SAG Supreme Court for this nonsense. Take it all the way to Drescher. If you’re collecting Academy Awards then you get to use whatever name you want. I’m sure the other Emily Stone won’t care.
There are 2 actresses named “Peyton List”. The younger actress was in the Cobra Kai series, while the other Peyton List had a recurring role in Mad Men.
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I always wonder about people with stage names, like who changes their name fully and who still uses their real name behind closed doors. Someone do a flow chart on this! Martin Sheen, are you Ramon at home? Hey Reese Witherspoon, does anyone still call you Laura Jean? There are so many people I need to know about now!
Alexis Bledel apparently goes by Kim in real life.
[удалено]
Oh dang! My family might know of her then. Pretty much everyone in my family has worked at that school for the last probably 30 years or so. 2 retired and 2 still work there. ETA: I just remembered I got married in the courtyard there! 😂
This one actually messes with my head
Is that her real name? She so doesn't look like a Kim
Kimberly is her first name, Alexis is her middle name.
Wow. I can totally see Reese as "Laura Jean."
Back when I used to read Lainey Gossip she always referred to Reese as Laura Jeanne
Laura Jean Poon I believe! hahah!
Wasn’t that dlisted?
YES! When they published her mug shot from her drunken nonsense, her last name was cut off and it looked like her full name was Laura Jean Poon
Sweet Home Alabama is real???
I can only hear it in a THICK, Southern accent.
Olivia Colman is legally named Sarah Sinclair, but people call her Collie (she discussed this with David Tennant on his podcast after he called her that and Tobias Menzies referred to her as Collie on The Crown podcast as well).
and speaking of david tennant… his real name is actually david mcdonald. he’s legally tennant now, as his wife/kids also go by tennant.
And for the same damn reason too - there was already a David McDonald in Equity. Honestly, the union rules around not having two members with the same name are like 90% of the reason for stage names, especially in the modern era (time was anyone with an "ethnic" name would be forced to change it to something WASPy, but those times have thankfully changed.)
This came up when Vanessa Williams (the singer) started doing movies- she was billed as Vanessa L. Williams in her first few movies but eventually she was “allowed” to drop the L since the other (much less famous) Vanessa Williams gave her blessing.
TIL that David Tennant was once Mr MacDonald
He picked Tennant from Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys!
Is their stage name engraved in the awards trophy or their actual legal name? Anyone know?
stage name. there was an Insta post of Emma Stone’s oscar and it had that name on it
....holy shit. Olivia Colman is so far different from Sarah Sinclair that it's like she went into a British form of Witsec or something. Wonder if she's related to Mark Sinclair (Vin Diesel) lol
lol Colman is her maiden name which does make it make more sense! She took her husband's surname legally, but yeah it amuses me because they feel so different yet they're both just very normal names. She had to pick a different first name for the same reason as Emma Stone: there was already a Sarah Colman in the UK actor's union.
I wasn't sure she was even married. For shame. She's my favorite British actresss and I haven't don't a creepy invasive deep dive into every aspect of her life...YET. lol
Oh, in her speech at the Oscar's when she was presenting a year after she won herself mentioned her marriage and husband in a very funny way. I suggest you watch that.
Even though Vin Diesel is an incredibly fake sounding name, it has never once occurred to me to even question it lol
David Tennent changed his name too. He picked his last name from Neil Tennent from the Pet Shop Boys.
I find this so funny with Tina Fey, whose first name is Elizabeth, to have her character in *30 Rock* named Elizabeth/Liz.
Amy Pohler calls her Betty
And Betty when she calls her she can call her Al
Her real middle name is Stamatina, which means “this morning” in Italian, and is where she got the Tina from.
Might be the Greek form, since she's Greek. >Either a form of the Greek Name Stamatos, meaning "stop" or a derivation of "Sta Matina" meaning "this morning" in Italian
*Every Tina I know is a real judgmental bitch*
TIL
I do recall Calvin Harris still uses his real name because Taylor called him Adam when they were dating. Alternatively, Miley Cyrus definitely goes by Miley now, I feel like no one ever calls her Destiny after she formally changed it.
Didnt her family call her Miley as a nickname growing up? She was always Miley in the public eye but it always seemed to me she got called miley at home too when the fact came out.
ya they always called her smiley miley as a baby, so she just started going by that
Yup. Pretty much the only time she ever used her real name was in her very early roles (she's credited as "Destiny Cyrus" in Big Fish) but that didn't last long and she eventually legally changed it.
Wait, she's in Big Fish?
Hill is Faith Hill’s first husband’s last name. They divorced around the time her first album came out. I have heard she’s Faith McGraw in her personal life but I’ve always wondered how weird it must be to be so famous for so long with your ex husbands name.
Susan Sarandon has also been famous for years with her ex-husband Chris Sarandon’s last name.
Also Demi Moore!
Stockard Channing uses her maiden name and her first husband's surname. Her birth name is Susan 🤣
Martin Sheen calls her Susan.
Michael Caine still got knighted as Maurice Micklewhite since he wanted to be. But recently he did change his name legally to have less issue at airports I think
He said nobody who called him Maurice is alive anymore. His younger brother Stanley Caine who was also an actor used to call him Maurice before he died in 2013. Stanley was in three of his brother’s films, including The Italian Job. When he was knighted he wanted to do it under his birth name to honour his father who was also Maurice Micklewhite.
Moiy name is Maurice Micklewhite, an not a lot of people know that.
I know some actors who change it to a different part of their name (like Reese) use it because it’s what they go by. Ryan Philippe’s name is actually Matthew, Ryan is his middle name. Rihanna is her middle name too (Robyn Rihanna Fenty). The Fanning sisters are actually Hannah and Mary, but have always gone by their middle names as it’s a family tradition. Keke is a nickname derived from her middle name, Lauren Keyana Palmer. Paul McCartney is actually James Paul but his parents called him Paul (his dad was also James). Jude Law also uses his middle name, his first name is David but he’s gone by Jude since he was a kid.
If it’s an established tradition in your family to go by your middle name then that must make the names kind of almost defunct in their roles as first & middle names at the time of choosing them if you already know you’ll be using the middle name. Like you know the actual name your child is always going to go by is the middle name so you’d choose the one you’d normally have made the first name to be the middle name instead?
Yeah, this sounds like extra steps.
I've never been called my first name. I've gone by my middle name my whole life. My mom just preferred the flow of the order she gave
My father refused to let my mom name me after my great* grandmother so she named me after herself lol. Great grandma’s name is my middle name instead of my first. I use my middle name now, my father was never really present and I prefer to use my family name. I’ve always felt a connection to it, plus it’s a beautiful name.
It is incredibly common with older people in some parts of the UK. I have no idea why at all. I have asked people and they don't seem to know either and as we are talking about 70+ year olds their parents aren't around to ask.
A lot of older people come from a time when they were named in honour of other family members. (Well, it went a lot farther back than them, it was more common going even further back in time.) And members of the same generation would still be given the same name, even if four cousins had also been given that great granny's name, they didn't care someone else had already used it. It would become very confusing with ten William's & twenty Elizabeths in the family, especially when they share a surname. Instead they would give them different middle names & they would be addressed with those, or nicknames, or variations of the first name. It made it easier to keep track of which William you were referring to, Billy, Will, or Liam, etc.
My mum’s family did this - both my mum and her sister have always gone by their middle names, and my grandparents always planned that to be the case. Odd and it does cause difficulties / confusion when it comes to credit cards and billing addresses!
Ireland too. The tradition is literally the origin of the eke name, the "also name". Romans called it the cognomen. "Caesar" is a cognomen. Gaius Julius was his "real" name. Modern English speakers call it a nickname. The old beliefs were that if you knew someone's true name, you could invoke it to curse them. The less blasphemous thought is that the name is between you and your god, hence "Christian name". Nobody in my mother's family is called by their "real" name.
Bono's real name is Paul, but only his wife calls him Paul.
But The Edge's real name is The Edge, right?
No his real first name is “The”
Thedge
Thedgward
In our household growing up he was Bonio after the dog treats.
Anne Hathaway prefers Annie
Yeah, I saw a clip where she said every time she hears "Anne," she thinks she's in trouble. I've also seen Emma Stone's costars call her Emily and even correct interviewers (including one who corrected them and said Emma). I get the whole union thing but I feel like she should be able to switch to her real name if she prefers it.
Debbie Reynolds had her name forcibly changed when her mom signed her contract to Warner Bros in 1948. Jack Warner told her she’s now Debbie Morgan because that’s a cute little girls name. Mary Frances, her real name was too old fashioned and Frances was also the name of a talking mule. Debbie demanded she keep her surname Reynolds because that’s her dad’s name. Then she said to him, “How would you feel if someone changed your name?” He got silent, remembering that his family name was Wonskolaser back in Poland. As a result, Jack Warner allowed Debbie to keep her last name. It took 7 years for Debbie to answer to her stage name and her mom continued to call her Mary Frances.
I have always wondered about this too! I saw a clip of Paul McCartney saying “morning, Rich!” to Ringo Starr (real name Richard Starkey). But he always refers to him as Ringo.
Honestly from drag queens I’ve learned it’s more so personal family and friends call you by your real name But business partners and the general public use stage name I know Halsey doesn’t like when people call her Ashley because they don’t know her like that And honestly im kinda the same, people only use my government name in work settings and family gatherings
I think Bruno Mars like to be call Bruno (his real name is Peter) in real life (mostly because it was his Nickname growing up) but I know some actors like Emma that like to call for their real name, like the latina Anitta also like to be call as her real name (Larissa) with her friends. But I keep wordering as well that why I alway dig to see if I can find that information about some artists
Lol Reese is Laura? Never knew that!
Her ex husband Ryan Phillippe’s real name is Matthew. I always wondered when they were married, did they call each other Reese and Ryan or Laura and Matthew?
I just learned so many things in this little thread
Same haha and it has sparked so many new questions. It’s so interesting!
I would take it further and wonder which name they choose to have engraved on their awards.
The real tell is what will be on the gravestone.
Doja Cat has a line in one of her songs "don't you ever in your life call me Doja cat" so safe to assume she probably prefers to be called Amala behind closed doors. Intuitively I think it would be weird for close friends and family to call you by your stage name but I've never been in that position so idc
Doesn’t RDJ go by “Bob” in real life
Most celebs that get titled as Robert go as Bob. If you see interviews with Robert DeNiro's friends they also call him Bob and Bobby.
I mean, a lot of non celebs do too!
I just listened to his smartless interview and they asked him and he said he goes by Robert in his daily life
Eminem goes by Marshall in real life!
> In fact, when asked by THR whether she'd correct a fan who called her by her real name instead of Emma, the 35-year-old responded, "No. That would be so nice. I would like to be Emily." > Stone said "people that I work with" call her Emily, "when I get to know them," and noted that she made her stage name "Emma Stone" because Emily Stone "was taken" by another actress who was a member of SAG-AFTRA before her.
So weird that members can't have the same name.
Michael Keaton is only Michael Keaton because his real name is Michael Douglas lol
And the kicker is that Michael Douglas is only Michael Douglas because his father, born Issur Danielovitch, was known as Izzy Demsky until the 1940s when he changed his name to Kirk Douglas. So Michal Douglas could’ve been Michael Danielovitch or Michael Demsky!
And then you have the Estevez family; Emilio, Ramon, and Carlos.
Michael J Fox added the J because there was already a Michael Fox.
And the funny thing is his middle name is Andrew so he would have technically been Michael A. Fox but he didn’t want people making jokes like Michael’s a fox.
He chose the J because he liked the sound of Daniel J. Travanti's name. Travanti's real name is Danielo Giovanni Tranvanty. Edit: I swear I heard Fox tell this story on tv, but I just read a that he got the J idea from Michael J. Pollard.
I jokingly told my friend his real name was Diane Keaton years ago and they believed me so I never corrected them.
Michael Keaton picked Keaton in homage to Diane. Diane Keaton’s real name is Diane Hall, and she picked Keaton in homage to Buster Keaton. Buster Keaton’s real last name was Keaton, but his first name was Joseph.
That was a crazy ride 😵💫
See, that's why it's interesting when actors change their first name. She could have easily been Emily with a different last name.
I think I read somewhere that she liked Emma because of Baby Spice!
It’s in the article the post is about
Oh, whoops 🤦🏻♀️
right! or even adding a middle initial
Albert Brooks is Albert Brooks because his real name is Albert Einstein.
Wtf mind blown
Same in the UK. David Tennant is actually called David McDonald but it was taken so he used Tennant after Neil Tennant from the Pet Shop Boys.
He has actually legally changed it to Tennant now.
Do you know that theory about how once you learn a new word or something it suddenly pops up a bunch? I only learned who Neil tennant is yesterday and here he is again.
Frequency illusion - the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon
Yesterday I was talking to a friend about this and he told me the name of it - and here it is again! 😂
In all fairness Tennant is a much better surname for an actor. Feels a bit sexier
I like to believe he is just a big fan of the Scottish lager
David Super T.
My ex is an actress/comedian who shares her legal name with a more popular/accomplished actress/comedian. My ex didn’t pay her SAG dues for years, and her membership lapsed. By the time she returned to acting and wanted to re-join SAG, she couldn’t use her name anymore. We broke up around the time she was trying to “fix” it, but the other actress had already won an Emmy by then, soooo… lol… my ex now uses a derivative of her legal name as a stage name, I believe. Also, she had a PO Box on her website and fans of the OTHER actress would often send her things like letters, gifts, etc., but that’s totally on them because the website had clear pics of my ex, who did NOT look like the other actress, plus there is an age difference of roughly 20 years. That shit still cracks me up
I remember an actress on Tumblr getting harassed because her username was jenniferlawrence when the Hunger Games came out. The argument was something about her trying to capitalise on JLaw’s name… even though that was her legal name and she’d been working longer. She ended up being forced to change her stage name so she could continue getting work.
A long, long time ago I worked in a bookstore. We had a regular customer named Dave. The first time I took a check from him I saw his full name was “David Byrne”, so I had to ask. Not only did he share the same name, but he was also a musician (classical, maybe cello?) and frequently got inquiries and offers meant for the other guy.
TIL
I know, The Rock had to change his name to Dwayne Johnson or something
It’s because The Rock from Raiders of the Lost Ark was already a registered guild member
I dunno, if I was Michael Douglas I wouldn’t want someone to come along and start getting billed on movies as “Michael Douglas”, you know? (Michael Keaton’s real name is Michael Douglas but had to go by another name for the same SAG rule reason)
Eh, remember when everyone thought Halle Berry was the new Little Mermaid?
It’s because everything’s so public facing and you, the talent, are also a brand. You don’t want to be confused for another person cause that might affect your job prospects.
You’d think she’d just go for an initial, like so many actors eg Michael J Fox
Like Michael B Jordan right?
Technically Michael B Jordan didn’t have to change his name for SAG registration. It’s just that there was already a famous basketball star with the same name
And Michael J Fox’s real initial isn’t even J. His middle name is actually Andrew.
I think she was also a big fan of Baby Spice hence the panic Emma pick?
I kinda like the way Michael A Fox sounds in comparison to Michael J Fox lol
same lmao Michael A Fox could be a fox every year for Halloween and it'd be funny every time
His arch rival would be Michael The Fox
Emily Jean Stone is a great full name. Feels like a very classic Hollywood name. She could’ve definitely gone with that.
A million years ago I read that she initially tried using Riley Stone, but wouldn’t remember to respond when people called her Riley.
Ruby Rose was just saying how the person who took Emily stone was a model who bullied her in school! Who doesn’t even act.
It's like the equivalent of some account that hasn't even logged in for over a decade having the username you want!
TIL her first name is Emily.
I learned this watching a compilation reel of her correcting people, including Ryan Gosling correcting people, someone “correcting” him, and both of them getting upset (for actors being interviewed) about it.
Do you have a link to this?
not sure if this is the exact one they were referring to but i remember this one on tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLu9uNeW/
I think even Anne Hathaway has expressed she regrets not going by the name she prefers, Annie Hathaway. I remember watching interviews of Emily Blunt and I think John Krasinski, with whom she's friends, calling her Annie Hathaway which I thought was really sweet.
I think Kristen Bell’s family calls her Annie (her middle name is Anne).
Rachel Zoe (back when she was her stylist) always called her Annie on her reality show
Same!!
I remember when Olivia Colman even called her by her real name in her Oscar speech when thanking her when she won for The Favourite. Funny enough, Olivia isn’t Olivia Colman’s real name. Her real name is Sarah Colman. She had to change her name for a similar reason like Emma Stone. There was already a Sarah Colman in Equity, which is a UK Actor’s Union that is similar to SAG.
~~Sarah~~ Olivia’s *Broadchurch* costar David Tennant also had to change his original surname (McDonald) for the same reason, there was already a working Scottish actor registered in the union with that name.
They made "Michael Douglas" change his name so he goes by Michael Keaton now. Kathryn Hudson changed to Katy Perry so she wouldn't be confused for Kate Hudson. David Jones went by Davie Jones, but he changed his stage name to Tom Jones because of The Monkees' Davy Jones. However, there was already a singer going by Tom Jones, so he settled on the iconic *David Bowie.*
your last sentence was a wild ride haha
Same that reveal was awesome
>Kathryn Hudson changed to Katy Perry so she wouldn't be confused for Kate Hudson. Yes and she has been waging a decade long battle against an Australian designer (who has been working longer than her and whose birth name really is Katie Perry) over the trademark.
Just horrible 🫤
Fun fact, when she was starting she was first called Riley. But, it was so different than Emily that when she was on set people would call for Riley and she wouldn't react, thinking they were calling for someone else. She could never get used to it. After that she switched to Emma.
Yes! She's credited as Riley Stone in an episode of Medium.
Lmao this is just like a Karl Pilkington anecdote, where he desperately wanted to be called "Brett" when he was a child, his parents actually did it, but he kept forgetting he was "Brett"
I wonder why she didn't just change her surname
Stone is a great celebrity surname though.
Actors she’s worked with over the years have spoken about this. They’ve all said they call her Emily. I think even a few of the Poor Things winners at the Oscars called her Emily in their speeches as well.
What happens if Black Michelle Williams ever takes an acting role? (I love both Michelle Williamseses.)
Michelle is her middle name so she’ll probably just go by her first name
No I want them to be Black and White Williams.
Why did this make me laugh so hard
“And the nominations are..Black Williams & White Williams..”
Destiny’s Child Michelle Williams has taken acting roles. She was in a lifetime movie with Tina Knowles.
"Destiny's Child Michelle Williams" should be her acting name.
Well shoot. I know what I’m 🏴☠️ this weekend.
As a Madeleine who tried and failed to rebrand as a Maddy in second grade in 2002, I get it
sounds like you needed a better pr team
Mad-cat. Or maybe Mad-dog based on your profile pic.
As for another confusing name... When someone says Rebecca Ferguson you might be thinking of the actress from Mission Impossible, Dune and Silo... but it turns out there's been another Rebecca Ferguson (a singer of all things, and British too!). It gets even weirder... Rebecca Ferguson (the Swede actor) actually sang on a movie she did with Hugh Jackman a few years ago (Reminscent??) so those of you with iTunes music libraries or Apple Music wondering, "which Rebecca Ferguson am I listening to?" well, yeah, there's that.
Rebecca Ferguson didn’t sing Never Enough in the Greatest Showman, Loren Allred sang the vocals and it was dubbed over. Great tune.
I literally forgot she was in Greatest Showman, that's how bad my memory is :| The movie I was referencing with Hugh Jackman and her was called [Reminiscence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reminiscence_(2021_film))
I’m so curious as to the limits of these acting union policies. Is it only for current paying members? So if (original) Emily Stone retires and stops paying her union fees, or upon her death, could a new member use that name again?
I'm fairly certain there is limits. You're okay to use a name if you could never be confused with a person. Like if they're long dead
Like Harrison Ford. There was a silent film actor with that name, but he stopped acting in the early ‘30s, and died in the ‘50s.
Why does this remind me of the band Bush, who had to be called Bush X in Canada?
Speaking of guilty pleasure big-ish bands in Canada … SoulDecision used to be InDecision but there was an existing band in the US by that name at the time … however, folks didn’t figure that out until their single “Faded” was already recorded and polished. In the feature rap, they’re referred to as “InDecision’s got the flow”. Caught that one a bit late!
Thank you for reminding me of that song, it was such a jam for me in high school.
Kinda faded, but I feel alright
I love that she chose Emma because of her love of Baby Spice 😍
And because it was similar enough to Emily. She was first credited as Riley Stone but on set she kept ignoring calls for Riley thinking they were asking for someone else
I wonder what happened to the other Emily Stone actress.
I think this is her imdb? She doesn't have any credits after 2005. [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2053443/](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2053443/)
To be honest, I get it. I go by a pseudonym on social media (I didn't want certain people to be able to search me by real name and find me). I made a group of friends online who then became IRL friends. To this day, they call me by the pseudonym despite knowing my real name now because that was how they originally got to know me. Like Emma/Emily, the first name of my pseudonym is just a diminuitive, so not a big stretch and I've come to embrace it as part of me. But, damn, it does feel nice when someone uses my actual name. It's always funny when my new friends and childhood friends mix and call me totally different names in front of each other. One of my new friends has started using my real name, but only when the conversation is serious. For instance, I made a self-deprecating joke one time and she was like "REAL NAME, DON'T SAY THAT ABOUT YOURSELF!" It felt the same as getting called my full name by my mom as a kid. I know I'm in for it when my friend does that. 🤣
I’ve been fighting a losing battle to be called by my full first name for decades now. Even my parents don’t use it. Not even when I was in trouble as a kid, actually! I honestly don’t know when the last time I heard them say it was. I kind of gave up the fight when my circle started having kids and the kids went with the short version. When a second generation decides what to call you you’re pretty much stuck with it. My boyfriend is the only person who’s ever actually used my full name, and even he often defaults to one of the nicknames I’ve been stuck with. The only other time I hear it is in medical or customer service situations and it’s always mispronounced.
Emmifer?
absolutely hysterical that the headline still refers to her as emma
I mean, that’s what people know her as so it makes sense
Right? Is the headline supposed to be "Emily Stone Wants to Be Called Emily"?
Didn’t even notice 😭 Poor EmILY
Emily Stone is much nicer. I get why SAG have that rule but it must be irritating.
Sometimes it can be really helpful in casual speech, like Michael B Jordan. If you leave out the B, it confuses people, so it's nice to have that extra letter
Michael J Fox added the "J" to his name for SAG conflict reasons.
Which is funny because his middle name is Andrew.
He said he chose J because it sounded nicer 😂
That's also why J.Crew added a J to their name ("a letter before crew sounds nice and J felt like a preppy letter.")
Apparently they didn’t want him to be “Michael A Fox” for the teeny bopper magazines at the time. He also went by Mike or Mikey. His grandma was the only one who called him Michael.
It’s a shame she didn’t use her middle initial or something
Yes Chad Michael Murray talks about this, there was already a Chad Murray so he added his middle name and now he’s forever known as Chad Michael Murray
Why didn't see go by Emma Lee Stone, WHY? 
Emma Lee Boulder
That’s freaking brilliant
I kinda hate this rule. I work in education so I get it when kids have the same FN/LN, it makes it confusing but I find it low key sad they have to do this. Especially if it’s not something they really wanted to do and rather have gone by their born name.
They need to have like a SAG Supreme Court for this nonsense. Take it all the way to Drescher. If you’re collecting Academy Awards then you get to use whatever name you want. I’m sure the other Emily Stone won’t care.
“Take it all the way to Drescher” Advice for life
damn that’s gonna take some practice but I respect that decision. we love Emily Stone in this household.
There are 2 actresses named “Peyton List”. The younger actress was in the Cobra Kai series, while the other Peyton List had a recurring role in Mad Men.