From Helen Mirren to Emma Stone: Celebrities whose real names would surprise you

After several attempts, Emma finally settled on her stage name: at age 16, she had to drop her first name, Emily, after joining the Screen Actors Guild and realizing there were other girls with the same name.

In an interview with W magazine, Oscar Winners “It was a really interesting process, having a 16-year-old pick a new name, because I was like, 'I'm going to be Riley. My name's going to be Riley Stone.' So I went by the name Riley Stone for about six months and did a guest spot on 'Malcolm in the Middle.' And then one day they started calling me 'Riley, Riley,' and I had no idea who they were talking to, and they were like, 'Hey, hey, we need you on set,' and I was like, 'Oh no, I'm not Riley. I can't be Riley.'” The actress ultimately settled on Emma because it was close to Emily.

The actress was born to Kathleen “Kitty” Alexandrina Eva Matilda and Vasily Petrovich Mironov, whose father Englished his surname to Mirren in the 1950s and renamed himself Basil Mirren.

The Duchess of Sussex's first name is Rachel, the same as her character's name in the popular courtroom drama “Suits.” The Duchess played paralegal Rachel Elizabeth Zane on the show from 2011 until her departure in 2018 after marrying Prince Harry.

The singer was born to Pentecostal minister Mary Christine Perry and Maurice Keith Hudson, but her stage name was Katie She decided to take the surname of her uncle, film director Frank Perry.

Chart Top Her stage name was given to her by one of her producers, Rob Fusari, who texted her the Queen song “Radio Gaga,” but somehow “Radio” autocorrected to “Lady” and the rest is history!

On her birth certificate, the singer is listed as Floriane Claude de Venuevaal O'Malley Armstrong, but Dido has always made it clear that Dido is her real name and not just a stage name – the name comes from a legendary queen of Carthage.

In an interview with the Observer, she explained, “Having different names and baptismal names is actually very confusing and annoying. It's one of the most annoying things my parents have ever done to me…. Florian is a German man's name. It's really mean, giving your child so many strange names. It was all very embarrassing…. I thought it was cruel to ask me to call me Dido and just accept it.”

actress Her stage name is a reference to the Irish author Oscar Wilde, and she changed her surname in high school to honor her family, many of whom were writers and journalists who used pen names.

Lesser known facts about the actress – lease It's actually her mother's maiden name!

103-year-old actor He grew up as Izzy Demski but legally changed his name to Kirk Douglas before enlisting in the U.S. Navy during World War II. His actor son, Michael Douglas take over his name.

actress At the age of 15, she wanted to reinvent herself and so she took on her current name: Portia, which comes from William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.

Bono His nickname came from his local hearing aid store, Bonavox, which means “good voice” in Latin. As a teenager, his friends started calling him Bono, and it's stuck ever since.

Treasure Singer He was named after his father, Peter Hernandez, but was nicknamed Bruno from an early age because his father said he resembled the professional wrestler Bruno Sammartino.

Bruno added Mars to his stage name while pursuing a music career in California. “I [any] “I thought maybe I was from Mars because I was amazing and girls told me I was out of this world,” he explained.

actor He was named after his father, Thomas Cruise Mapother III.

of I'm a man! I feel like a woman! singer Born Eileen Regina Edwards, she was adopted by her stepfather at a young age after her mother remarried and took her legal surname, Twain.

Naturally, the name Whoopi The name was inspired by a whoopee cushion: “If you have a little bit of gas, you have to let it out, so people would say to me, 'You look like a whoopee cushion,' and that's how the name came about,” the actress said.

Regarding her last name, she said, “My mother didn't name me Whoopi, but Goldberg is my name. It's part of my family and part of my heritage. Just like being black.”

of Fancy Rapper Her stage name comes from the name of her childhood dog, Iggy, and Azalea Street, the street where she grew up and where her family still lives today.

of The Wizard of Oz Star Judy was named after her father, Francis, and mother, Ethel. There are several theories about the name change: Judy was said to have been inspired by a popular song by Hoagy Carmichael, while Garland was named after Lily Garland, played by Carole Lombard in the film “20th Century.”

actor He adopted the stage name because he claims people began to doubt his real name. He explained: “Every time I called to make an appointment, whether it be for a job or an apartment, and gave my name, I would hesitate, but once I got there, the hesitation disappeared. So I decided I'd had enough of struggling to get acting jobs, so I made up the name Martin Sheen.”

Officially, I'm still Estevez. I never officially changed my name and I never will. My driver's license, my passport, everything has Estevez on it. I started using scenes, I thought I'd give it a try, and before I knew it, I was making a living from it, and it was too late. In fact, one of my biggest regrets is not keeping the name I was given. I knew my father would have cared.”

Actress' real name That's a lot longer than her stage name!

actor He was named after his father, Maurice Joseph Micklewhite Sr., a fish market porter.