7 Surprising Celebrities You Didn't Know Changed Their Names ...

By Vladlena

When it comes to fame, image and reputation are everything, which is why there are plenty of famous celebrities you didn’t know changed their names. While some slightly altered the name they were born with, others completely transformed it into something else. The initiative often comes from the actors themselves, who want a simpler and shorter name that others will remember, but others just do it because they have the exact same name as another person in the business and that as a rule is not allowed. Here are 7 of your favorite celebrities you didn’t know changed their names.

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1

Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus One of the celebrities you didn’t know changed their names is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, Miley Ray Cyrus. The famous Disney star that recently broke out of her shell was actually born with the name of Destiny Hope Cyrus. When she was young, she was given the nickname of “Smiley” and later people began to call her Miley to reflect her personality. Around 2008, she decided to make the name change permanent and additionally adopted Ray as her middle name to honor her father, Billy Ray Cyrus.

2

Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey Before she was one of the hottest new singers that everyone had to watch out for, she was a struggling musician by the name of Lizzie Grant, trying to break through. After a failed attempt to become noticed, she changed everything from her appearance to her name and gave rise to her alter ego, Lana Del Ray!

3

Dakota Fanning

Dakota Fanning While Dakota Fanning didn’t exactly change her name, she and her sister Elle Fanning actually use their middle names instead of their first names. Dakota Fanning was born as Hannah Dakota Fanning and Elle Fanning was Mary Elle Fanning. It is not that big of a deal, but it’s hard to associate their first names with them when we are so used to their middle names.

4

Bruno Mars

Bruno Mars When Bruno Mars first came to Hollywood, his real name, Peter Hernandez, was an obstacle as he tried to make something of himself. People often pushed him to become a Latino artist and even sing in Spanish. In order to avoid that, he used his childhood nickname Bruno and changed his last name to Mars. In the end it all worked out for him. I mean, look at him now!

5

Katy Perry

Katy Perry While Katy Perry’s real name Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson hadn’t actually harmed her career in any way, she still had to change her name in order to avoid being mistaken for Kate Hudson. Instead she used her mother’s maiden name and shortened her first name to Katy!

Famous Quotes

If you have a harem of 40 women, you never get to know any of them very well.

Warren Buffett
6

Drake

Drake You might remember Drake from the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation, when people knew him as Aubrey Graham. However, as he tried to propel his music career, he needed something short and sweet and therefore he began using just his middle name, Drake.

7

Rihanna

Rihanna You might not have known that before the fame and fortune, Rihanna was known as Robyn Fenty. There are two reasons why the singer decided to use her middle name as her first name. First is that she just plainly didn’t like her name and second is because there was already a singer by the name of Robyn who already put out several singles!

Sometimes everything is not what it seems, even the names of some of our favorite celebrities! However, it’s just a name after all, right? If you had the chance to change your name, what would you change it to?

Feedback Junction

Where Thoughts and Opinions Converge

I do believe you mean "Lana Del REY"

I believe the Ray in Miley 'Ray' Cyrus was for her granddad, she mentioned it in an interview and that people thought it was for her dad but it wasn't- she was really close to her granddad and I think she did it after he died.

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