A few birth names (first and last names):
Agnes Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa)
Ahmir Thompson (Questlove)
Alicia Cook (Alicia Keys)
Alisa Rosenbaum (Ayn Rand)
Allen Konigsberg (Woody Allen)
Angela Brown (Angie Stone)
Angelina Voight (Angelina Jolie)
Anna Bullock (Tina Turner)
Archibald Leach (Cary Grant)
Asa Yoelson (Al Jolson)
Aubrey Graham (Drake)
Audrey Ruston (Audrey Hepburn)
Avram Chomsky (Noam Chomsky)
Barry Pincus (Barry Manilow)
Betty Perske (Lauren Bacall)
Calvin Broadus (Snoop Dogg)
Carlos Estevez (Charlie Sheen)
Carlos Norris (Chuck Norris)
Carol Klein (Carole King)
Caryn Johnson (Whoopi Goldberg)
Chaim Weitz (Gene Simmons)
Charles Wiggins (Raphael Saadiq)
Cherilyn Sarkisian (Cher)
Chloe Wofford (Toni Morrison)
Cleveland Laing (Lieutenant Stitchie)
Damali Patterson (damali ayo)
Dan Perkins (Tom Tomorrow)
Dana Owens (Queen Latifah)
Dante Smith (Mos Def)
Desiree Heslop (Princess)
Desirée Weeks (Des’ree)
Dino Crocetti (Dean Martin)
Doris von Kappelhoff (Doris Day)
Eleanor Smith (Rosalynn Carter)
Eleanora Harris (Billie Holiday)
Elias Bates (Bo Diddley)
Emmitt Perry (Tyler Perry)
Eric Bishop (Jamie Foxx)
Eric Blair (George Orwell)
Erica Wright (Erykah Badu)
Erik Weisz (Harry Houdini)
Ernesto Guevara (Che Guevara)
Esther Friedman (Ann Landers)
Eugene Vidal (Gore Vidal)
Eusebius Hieronymus (St Jerome)
Faheem Najm (T-Pain)
Farrokh Bulsara (Freddie Mercury)
Frances Gumm (Judy Garland)
François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire)
Georgios Panayiotou (George Michael)
Gloria Watkins (bell hooks)
Helen Adu (Sade)
Henry Greene (Graham Greene)
Inga Marchand (Foxy Brown)
Ioseb Dzhugashvili (Stalin)
Issur Danielovitch (Kirk Douglas)
James Johnson (Rick James)
Jay Greenspan (Jason Alexander)
Jeffry Hyman (Joey Ramone)
Jerome Silberman (Gene Wilder)
Joan Molinsky (Joan Rivers)
John Carter (Charlton Heston)
John Coolidge (Calvin Coolidge)
John Hoover (J. Edgar Hoover)
John Sanford (Redd Foxx)
John Stephens (John Legend)
John Wilson (Anthony Burgess)
Jonathan Leibowitz (Jon Stewart)
Joyce Frankenberg (Jane Seymour)
Józef Korzeniowski (Joseph Conrad)
Katheryn Hudson (Katy Perry)
Kathryn Epstein (Kathie Lee Gifford)
Kemal Kasem (Casey Kasem)
Krishna Banji (Ben Kingsley)
LaDonna Gaines (Donna Summer)
Laurence Tureaud (Mister T)
Lawrence Zeiger (Larry King)
Leslie King (Gerald Ford)
Lev Bronshtein (Trotsky)
Lonnie Lynn (Common)
Louis Wolcott (Louis Farrakhan)
Madonna Ciccone (Madonna)
Malcolm Little (Malcolm X)
Margarita Cansino (Rita Hayworth)
Marion Morrison (John Wayne)
Mathangi Arulpragasam (M.I.A.)
Natalia Zakharenko (Natalie Wood)
Natalie Hershlag (Natalie Portman)
Nesta Marley (Bob Marley)
Nicolas Coppola (Nicholas Cage)
Norma Mortenson (Marilyn Monroe)
Onika Maraj (Nicki Minaj)
O’Shea Jackson (Ice Cube)
Paul Gladney (Paul Mooney)
Paul Hewson (Bono)
Paulette Williams (Ntozake Shange)
Phylicia Ayers-Allen (Phylicia Rashad)
Prince Nelson (Prince)
Ralph Lifshitz (Ralph Lauren)
Raquel Tejada (Raquel Welch)
Reginald Dwight (Elton John)
Rexton Gordon (Shabba Ranks)
Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan)
Robyn Fenty (Rihanna)
Sofia Scicolone (Sophia Loren)
Sadie Smith (Zadie Smith)
Saul Hudson (Slash)
Sean Henriques (Sean Paul)
Shelton Lee (Spike Lee)
Stefani Germanotta (Lady Gaga)
Stephen Cleveland (Grover Cleveland)
Stevland Judkins (Stevie Wonder)
Tauheed Epps (2 Chainz)
Thomas Mapother (Tom Cruise)
Thomas Wilson (Woodrow Wilson)
Tracee Silberstein (Tracee Ellis Ross)
Trevor Smith (Busta Rhymes)
Vanna Rosich (Vanna White)
Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin)
Willard Romney (Mitt Romney)
Willard Smith (Will Smith)
William Blythe (Bill Clinton)
William Drayton (Flavor Flav)
William Pitt (Brad Pitt)
William Roberts (Rick Ross)
Wynona Horowitz (Wynona Rider)
See also:
I am not surprised when celebrities change their names. You have to have a memorable name for show business.
@leigh204
On top of that, I noticed how many of the whites with ethnic names (Hispanic, Jewish) changed their names to WASP-y sounding ones. Not all of them did. But some did.
@leigh204
You have to have a memorable name for show business.
Do you? looks like a cursory examination ,many where trying to assimilate to stereotypical american “whiteness”.
And the moral compass of quite a few is extremely suspect – but still abagond hits another home run ,its out of the park and the crowd roars – welcome to the big time…
@ Mbeti:
Do I have what? A memorable name for show business? If I were in show business, I wouldn’t change my first and last name as both are ethnic. I’m simply referring to these stars mentioned here. For example, which sounds better? Archibald Leach or Cary Grant? Archibald Leach doesn’t sound as suave and sophisticated as Cary Grant. That’s what I meant. However, I do understand what you’re getting at.
Full of shockers! I knew Ben Kingsley had an Indian parent but I had no idea of his birth name. A few of names on the list reminded me of the old joke of the man going before the judge to change his name: “What’s your name?” “Edward Horseface.”
“All right, what would you like to change it to?”
“Jonathan Horseface, your honor.”
Great post. And Chloe Wofford is Toni Morrison. Wow that’s news to me. And my favorite Lady Gaga which I knew was Stefani Germanotta. Which she is performing in my city tonight. I which I could be there with all the other litte monsters.
Judy Garland sounds better than Francis Gumm.
I have to admit, I found it funny how many played the game of “Hide the Jew”. America being what it is, I’m not too surprised. It’s one thing to call yourself something like say, “Slash” or “T-Pain” and know that pretty much everyone will know that is not your birth name but I’m seeing the “Italianess” just as an example, get washed right out of some of these names.
“Margarita Cansino (Rita Hayworth)”
I recall reading that actress Rita Hayworth was actually of partial Spanish descent, swarthy skinned, hirsute, and had a low hairline. To make her more palatable for the (largely northwest European white) American audience, her skin was bleached and her hairline realigned.
@ Kiwi:
Some of them looked white so they were able to get away with it. Here’s one example: Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Cansino) didn’t look like one of the most glamorous stars when she first started out. Oh, no. Several years earlier, she had darker skin which was whitened, and her hairline was raised. Then she had her black hair coloured to a dark red to appear Wasp-y. Along with her new look, she had to have a new name, and what fit the bill better than Rita Hayworth. Voila!
http://i49.tinypic.com/vfdn9k.jpg
Oops! Fiamma Blu beat me to it.
Certainly names like Rock Hudson, Cary Grant and John Wayne were chosen to sound like stage names (not to mention Lady Gaga, Snopp Dogg, Rihanna).
Some of the names were as simple as children adopting the surname of their stepfather.
Names before around the 1970s were definitely chosen to sound more anglicized. Even Chinese-Americans in the first half of the 20th century would spell their names Young, Lowe, Louie and Joe instead of Yeung/Yeong, Lo, Lui and Chow.
But post-70s, it seems many chose names to sound *more* ethnic.
Also Paul Hudson (H.R.)
Flava Flav = William Jonathan Drayton, Jr.
Brilliant, well done abagond it was fun reading what these stars used to be called – how far do you think Ralph Loren would have got with a name like Ralph Lifshitz- who would want to tell people they are wearing lifshitz……..can’t understand why Bill Clinton wanted to change his name…….might need some looking into. Well done.
Mos Def, but also known as Yasiin Bey.
Birth name: Dante Terrell Smith
Jermaine Jackson, also known as Mohammad Abdul Aziz
Some name changes were due to adoption or marriage (Bill Clinton, Phylicia Rashad), some apparently wanted to have a cooler sounding name (John Wayne, Anthony Burgess), some wanted to have a name people could spell (M.I.A.) and some were pretty clearly cases of ethnic reconstruction (Jason Alexander). And sometimes it seems to be two or more of the above (Freddie Mercury, Cher, Donna Summer).
In the case of Tracee Ellis Ross and Nicholas Cage, it seems the name change was due to having a famous relative (Diana Ross, Francis Ford Coppola) that they either wanted to draw attention to or away from.
Ethnic reconstruction can either be towards or away from Anglo norms. For Jews, Italians and Latinos – those who have a chance of passing for Generic White American – it is generally towards (Rita Hayworth, Dean Martin). For blacks the reconstruction tends to be in the opposite direction (Malcolm X, Erykah Badu).
NOT on the list are those whose ancestors changed their last name, like Mike Wallace (Wallik) and Marlo Thomas (Kairouz).
More more generic sounding name changes:
Alan Alda — Alphonso D’Abruzzo
Danny Devito – Daniel Michaeli
Kirk Douglas — Issur Danielovitch
Anne Bancroft — Anna Maria Italiano
David Copperfield — David Seth Kotkin
Charles Bronson — Charles Dennis Buchinski
Antonio Banderas — Jose Antonia Dominguez Bandera
Chuck Norris — Carlos Ray
Bruce Lee – Lee Yuen Kam
Karl Malden — Mladen Sekulovich
Mart Twain — Samuel Longhorne Clemens
Newt Gingrich — Newton Leroy McPherson
Jackie Chan — Chan Kwong-Sung
Jennifer Aniston — Jennifer Linn Anastassakis
Steven Tyler — Steven Tallarico
Some cooler sounding name changes:
Elton John — Reginald Dwight
John Denver — Henry John Deutschendorf Jr.
George Michael — Georgios Panayiotou
MC Hammer — Stanley Kirk Burrell
Portia De Rossi – Amanda Lee Rogers
Vin Diesel — Mark Vincent
Coolio — Artis Levon Ivey Jr
Ice-T — Tracy Morrow
Michael Caine — Maurice Micklewhite
Chaka Khan — Yvette Stevens
Elton John — Reginald Dwight
oops, Reginald Dwight twice and already there. lol
I was aware of a few of these, but the rest threw me off a bit. Interesting tidbits and you could relate this to Internet identities…:/
I understand why Cary Grant changed his name. Archibald Alexander Leach does not have that marquee touch in it.
LMAO at Charlie Sheen…I always thought that was his real name. It was confusing because his brother’s name was Spanish (Emilio Estevez) and I always wondered how the hell he got that name, LMAO!
Bono’s real name is Paul Hewson not Newson.
@ Anne
Thanks.
Wow, some of these people’s names I thought were real!
Looking at the picture of Cary Grant while thinking Archibald Leach made his sexiness PLUMMET to me! lol
I know a white guy whose father is a very dark Hispanic and whose mother is a white Jew. He told me that when he applies for jobs and puts down his father’s Spanish name, “Rivera”, he almost never receives callbacks, especially if the job is a white collar desk job. Funnily, if he applies for a blue collar manual labor job, he receives callbacks almost immediately, probably because the employers think he’s cheap. He’s not making this up because when he puts down his mother’s name, “Kohn” when applying for the same white collar jobs, he receives much more callbacks. When he told me about this, he was very angry about it.
You would think that this makes him less racist, but like Abagond said in his post on growing up white, Jews or white Hispanics like the guy I mentioned are reluctant to own up to their whiteness. He seemed more angry that he was not being accepted as white rather than being rejected for being Hispanic. This is supported by the fact that when he speaks Spanish in front of his friends, he does it with a condescending, broken accent that mocks and shames the use of the language. He also laughs at stereotypes of Jews. He even has no problems laughing at racist jokes about Asians as well, proof of his privilege despite encountering discrimination himself. He even clusters with white friends when the majority of the students are non-white.
Sadly, my mixed-race cousins are the same way. If you mention that they’re Chinese, they get angry and resentful. But if you mention that they’re mixed in with white, they suddenly beam up with pride and joy. It’s sick. Ironically, they look 90% percent Asian and cannot hide who they are. The white Hispanic/Jew I mentioned looks 100% white and will cash in on it for the rest of his life.
Julian, would you consider posting about the names that people of different races, ethnicities, social classes, time periods, or cultures give to their children? I think it would be cool to learn about the different cultural trends in baby naming and the explanations behind these naming practices, and it would fit in with your focus on words, race, and history. I think you have briefly mentioned one of the studies from Freakonomics before, but I have never seen you discuss this topic in depth. I would love to read your thoughts on this issue; I bet you would have some great insights.
Carey Grant is so much sexier than Archibald Leach. I can’t imagine one of his paramores yelling “Archibald ,Archibald in the throes of passion. LOL!
Sade simply uses a shortened form of her middle name Helen Folasade Adu.
Bob Marley’s birth name was Robert Nesta Marley, so he is using a shortened form of his first name.
I don’t consider using a middle name a fake name. Example:
William Bradley Pitt
Robyn Rihanna Fenty
Robert Nesta Marley. Nesta is Bob Marley’s middle name and Bob is short for R0obert, his first name.