1.
Angelina Jolie was born Angelina Jolie Voight, but in 2002, she petitioned the court to drop her last name. Over the years, she’s been vocal about her strained relationship with her estranged father, Jon Voight. Years ago, she even said, “It is not healthy for me to be around my father, especially now that I am responsible for my own child.”
2.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter Shiloh was born Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. In May, she filed to drop “Pitt” from her last name. The petition was granted, and now she will legally go by Shiloh Jolie.
3.
Dove Cameron was born Chloe Celeste Hosterman. After her father died in 2011, she legally changed her name to Dove in his honor. On Twitter, she wrote, “My father always called me Dove. He took his own life when I was 15. I didn’t get to say goodbye, so I changed it in honor of him.”
4.
Kelly Clarkson legally changed her name to Kelly Brianne after divorcing Brandon Blackstock. Brianne is her middle name, and while Kelly said that she’s still Kelly Clarkson professionally, her new name “more fully reflects who I am.”
5.
Lisa Bonet legally changed her name to Lilakoi Moon, though she still uses “Lisa Bonet” professionally. Her main reason for the name change was her desire for privacy.
6.
Miley Cyrus was born Destiny Hope Cyrus. When she was a kid, she was really happy, so her family used to call her “Smiley,” which turned into “Miley.” Then, in 2008, she petitioned to change her name to Miley Ray Cyrus. “My parents thought it was my destiny to bring hope to the world,” she told David Letterman. “It is lovely. It is a lot. But I do think that from the beginning it set an intention, which we don’t always have.”
8.
Back in 1978, Cher legally changed her name from Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPiere Bono Allman to just Cher. Sarkisian was her birth last name. The last name LaPiere was added when her mother married Gilbert LaPiere and he adopted Cher. Then, the names Bono and Allman came from her marriages to Sonny Bono and Gregg Allman.
9.
Carlos and Alexa PenaVega were originally Carlos Pena and Alexa Vega. When they got married, they legally combined their last names. “We were literally at the county office in Ventura signing all the paperwork and the woman was like, ‘Whose last name?'” Carlos said. “I said, ‘Let’s see if this works. Carlos and Alexa PenaVega. Just one word.'”
10.
Jada Pinkett Smith took on the last name Smith after marrying Will Smith in 1997. However, she feared that taking on his name would make her seem less “independent.” ”The dilemma you face whether to change your last name to your husband’s is a timely one,” she wrote on Facebook. “I have always believed that an empowered woman is one that can stand on her own two feet and has the strength to trust her personal code of womanhood and not necessarily the code that a collective creates as the standard to which an independent woman must adhere to, to actually be identified as…independent.”
11.
Macaulay Culkin was born Macaulay Carson Culkin. In 2018, he announced that he was legally changing his name to Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin after holding a poll for fans to vote for a new middle name.
12.
Olivia Wilde, born Olivia Jane Cockburn, legally changed her last name to Wilde. The name was derived from author Oscar Wilde, and she wanted to honor all the writers in her family. “It was meant as an homage to the writers in my family, many of whom created pen names for their careers,” she said. “I have a grandfather who changed his name to James Helvick to write the novel Beat the Devil, which got turned into a movie with Humphrey Bogart. I always thought having a pen name was so romantic.”
13.
Elton John, born Reginald Kenneth Dwight, legally changed his name to Elton Hercules John. He was inspired to take the name Elton after being in a band with a saxophone player named Elton Dean. The name John was taken from Long John Baldry who Elton worked with during his early days. Back in 1987, Elton explained, “When I became Elton John, it was like a new lease on life. I didn’t particularly like being Reg Dwight. It had too many unhappy memories. I hated the word ‘Reg’ anyway. It was just a horrible name. As soon as I was Elton, it was just great. It was like a new personality.”
14.
Skeet Ulrich was born Bryan Ray Trout. When he was a kid, he got the nickname Skeeter from his Little League coach, and he shortened it for his stage name. The name Ulrich comes from his first stepfather, whose name is D.K. Ulrich.
15.
Finally, Rita Wilson was born Margarita Ibrahimoff. Rita was a nickname for Margarita, and it was actually her father, a Bulgarian immigrant, who changed their family’s last name four years after Rita was born. Then, she legally added on the last name Hanks after marrying Tom Hanks in 1988.