27 celebrities who changed their names, from Jonah Hill to Tom Cruise
Many A-listers adopted new monikers before – or even once – they became famous
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.It’s not uncommon for celebrities to change their names on their way to fame – so much so that fans usually aren’t aware that their favourite artists used to go by another moniker.
Some have elected to make the change official by legally taking on a new name, while others simply go by their chosen aliases.
In November, Jonah Hill reportedly filed to legally change his name, dropping his surname Feldstein to just go by Jonah Hill.
It follows after Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul filed to change his own name from Aaron Paul Sturtevant to simply Aaron Paul.
Other A-listers have also changed their names over the years.
Bob Dylan, for example, was born Robert Zimmerman but legally changed his name in 1962.
Portia de Rossi was once known as Amanda Lee Rogers, but like Dylan, she legally changed it, in her case at the age of 15.
This is a common move for performing artists, with David Bowie, Katy Perry and John Legend having all chosen new stage names for themselves on their path to fame.
Below are 27 celebrities who were born with very different names
Click through the bellow gallery to see what made the list
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments