UPDATED: Ever since the advent of movies, TV, recordings and the Broadway stage many performers changed their names to make it easier to remember and for the marquee. Over the years a number of performers have kept their original names like Faye Dunaway, Nicole Kidman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sharon Stone, George Clooney among them. Some changed their name because it was the same as another famous person, for example, comedian /actor Albert Brooks real name is Albert Einstein. Here are 50 performers, past and present, whose real names you may, or may not, know.
- Steveland Judkins – Stevie Wonder
- Paul David Hewson — Bono
- Declan Patrick McManus – Elvis Costello
- Frances Gumm – Judy Garland
- John Roger Stephens — John Legend
- Peter Gene Hernandez — Bruno Mars
- Jason Bradley DeFord – Jelly Roll
- Eileen Edwards — Shania Twain
- Martha Helen Kostyra – Martha Stewart
- Maurice Micklewhite — Michael Caine
- Caryn Elaine Johnson — Whoopi Goldberg
- Allen Koenigsberg – Woody Allen
- Chaim Witz — Gene Simmons
- John Roger Stephens – John Legend
- Eric Marlon Bishop — Jamie Foxx
- Margaret Hyra — Meg Ryan
- Cassandra Peterson – Elvira
- Milton Hines – Soupy Sales
- Richard Starkey — Ringo Starr
- Hans Gudegast – Eric Braeden
- Shawn Corey Carter — Jay Z
- Armando Christian Perez – Pit Bull
- Robyn Fenty — Rihanna
- Alicia Augello-Cook — Alicia Keys
- Ilyena Lydia Mironov– Helen Mirren
- Alphonso D’Abruzzo – Alan Alda
- Sherilyn Sarkisian – Cher
- Michael Douglas – Michael Keaton .
- Archibald Leach – Cary Grant
- Ramon Estevez – Martin Sheen
- Bernard Schwartz – Tony Curtis
- Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko – Natalie Wood
- Stefani Germanotta – Lady Gaga
- Robert Zimmerman – Bob Dylan
- Norma Jeane Mortenson – Marilyn Monroe
- Christopher Bridges -Ludacris
- Alecia Beth Moore – Pink
- Andre Charles – Ru Paul
- Tara Leigh Patrick – Carmen Electra
- Marion Morrison – John Wayne
- Mark Sinclair – Vin Deisel
- Audrey Perry – Faith Hill
- Antoine Dominique – Fats Domino
- Dana Owens – Queen Latifah
- Thomas Mapother IV – Tom Cruise
- Dino Crocetti – Dean Martin
- Jeanette Morrison – Janet Leigh
- Carlos Irwin Estevez – Charlie Sheen
- Melissa Viviane Jefferson – Lizzo
- William Henry Pratt – Boris Karloff
If you want to find out some more of the real names of celebrities go to: https://parade.com/celebrities/celebrities-real-names plus there are several other sites.
