Being the kid of a celebrity comes with plenty of perks (an amazing closet archive), but also some unexpected pitfalls (when expectations come along, it can be hard to carve your own path).
Some celebrity kids, like Shiloh Jolie and Malia Obama, have changed their names slightly as they grew up, while others, like Elle King, have completely reinvented their names to carve out their own identity in the industry.
Here are some of the celebrity children who dropped their parents' surnames.
Suri Cruise: Suri Noel
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It's hard to believe, but Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise's daughter Suri has now graduated from high school.
On that big day, Suri's name was listed as “Suri Noelle” instead of “Suri Cruise” on her New York City high school graduation program.
Malia Obama: Malia Ann
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To avoid the preconceptions that come with being the daughter of a president (her parents are Barack and Michelle Obama), Malia Obama, 25, dropped her well-known last name and instead went by her middle name, Malia Ann, when her short film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
She screened heartis about a grieving son whose mother leaves him an unusual wish in her will when she dies. The Hollywood Reporter.
Tanner Elle Schneider: Elle King
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Elle King, the daughter of comedian Rob Schneider and model London King, wanted to forge her own path and changed her name from Tanner Elle Schneider when she decided to pursue a career in music.
“I wanted to be myself. I've never wanted to owe anyone money and I've worked hard for my family and for myself,” she told People magazine in February 2023. “I want to build my own life and know that I did it myself.”
Mamie Gummer: Natalie Stern
Actress Mamie Gummer, who starred with her mother, Meryl Streep, in the 1986 film “The 1986,” had no say in the matter. heartburn Streep decided to change her daughter's name to Natalie Stern when she was 20 months old to protect her identity; when Gummer grew up, she decided to go by her real name. (Streep's youngest daughter, actress Louisa Jacobson, also does not use her real name, but that is due to Screen Actors Guild restrictions, not to distance herself from her famous family.)
Michael Neeson: Michael Richardson
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Liam Neeson's son Michael dropped his last name for a heartwarming reason: to pay tribute to his mother, Natasha Richardson, who died from blunt force trauma in a skiing accident in 2009.
“I think he did the right thing. It was a beautiful, tribute. Natasha's family, her mother, her sisters were so touched, and so was I,” Liam Neeson told Andy Cohen on Radio Andy in 2020.
Emilio Estevez
Emilio Estevez decided to use his famous father's real name and ditch the stage name “Martin Sheen” that his father used throughout his career.
Ramon Estevez was born in Closer Weekly He regrets being influenced to change his last name because of Hollywood, and is glad that his son Emilio kept it. (One of his other sons, Charlie, uses the surname Sheen for work.)
“The only thing I influenced Emilio to do was to keep his name,” Sheen said. “When he first came out, his agent advised him to change his name to Sheen, but he didn't. I'm thankful he didn't.”
Nicolas Coppola: Nicolas Cage
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Having an Oscar-nominated director for an uncle might seem like a good thing in the industry, but as a young actor in the '80s, Nicolas Cage (pictured here with his uncle Francis Ford Coppola and cousin Sofia Coppola) was desperate to distance himself from his famous family.
“People kept saying things like, 'I love the smell of Nicholas in the morning,'” he recalls. Wired A reference to my uncle's film Apocalypse Now. “I decided that wasn't necessary, so I changed it to Cage – a combination of Luke Cage from Marvel Comics and avant-garde composer John Cage. It speaks to what I've done since then.”
