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Do you believe Cher isn't Cher's birth name —and that she only found out what it was as an adult? The pop icon has shared how she discovered that the name she thought for years her mother named her as a baby was not the one that actually appears on her birth certificate. "I believed Cherilyn was my name," the 78-year-old wrote in her autobiography, Cher: The Memoir, Part One , released Nov. 19 and obtained by E! News, "until the day years later when I decided to legally change my name to simply Cher.
" The "Believe" singer said in her book that after her mother Georgia Holt gave birth to her in 1946, a nurse visited her room and asked what she planned to name her baby. "My mother had no idea, but the woman insisted so she replied, 'Well, Lana Turner 's my favorite actress and her little girl's called Cheryl. My mother's name is Lynda, so how about Cherilyn?'" The Grammy winner changed her legal full name to Cher in the late '70s, dropping her four surnames—her birth name Sarkisian , plus the last names of her stepfather Gilbert LaPiere and ex-husbands Sonny Bono and Gregg Allman .
As part of the process, she needed to first obtain her birth certificate. "I was shocked to discover that I was officially registered as Cheryl," Cher wrote in her memoir, "and asked my mother, 'Do you even known my real name, Mom?'" She said Georgia, who gave birth to her at age 19, responded, "Let me look at that!" and, recalling her postpartum experience, added, "I was only a teenager, and I was in a lot of pain. Give me a break.
" The "If I Could Turn Back Time" singer had shared the reason behind her decision to change her legal name to Cher in 1979. "I like it," Cher told Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show . "It's better for me than having people wonder if they should call me Mrs.
Allman or Mrs. Bono or Mrs. Bono Allman or Miss Cher or whatever.
" The "Strong Enough" singer continued, "I mean, 'Cher' is just fine. Just plain 'Cher.'" Find out more celebrities' real names.
.. Cher For more than three decades, Cher was made to believe that her legal first name was Cherilyn.
It wasn't until the late '70s, when she obtained her birth certificate in order to change her full name to just Cher, that she discovered that she had been registered as "Cheryl." In her 2024 memoir, Cher: The Memoir, Part One , the pop icon recalled her mom Georgia Holt 's reaction to this discovery. She said her mother, who gave birth to her at age 19, responded, "Let me look at that!" and then, recalling her postpartum experience, added, "I was only a teenager, and I was in a lot of pain.
Give me a break." Shaboozey The outlaw country star's real name is Collins Obinna Chibueze . He adopt Shaboozey as his nickname and later used it as his official alias as a music artist after his Virginia high school misspelled his surname that way.
Austin Richard Post Congratulations to Post Malone , who incorporated his surname into his stage name. However, the rapper does prefer his close friends to call him by his real name. During the 2024 MTV VMAs, Taylor Swift referred to him as "Austin" when they won the Best Collaboration award for their duet "Fortnight.
" Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson Though the singer initially released a Christian album under her birth name in 2001, she felt the stage name Katy Perry —inspired by her mom's maiden name—might meet pop fans more in awe, awe, awe. Cardi B took on the name Bacardi after family and friends started calling her sister Hennessy. Later on she shortened the name to something that suited her quite a bit more.
Before she became the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle was briefly known as Rachel. Shania Twain shared the origin story of her stage name during an appearance on Apple Music's Home Now Radio : "In short, I was born, Eilleen Regina Edwards, and then I was adopted and I became Eilleen Regina Twain. Then I became a professional singer and I needed a stage name that sounded a little less like my grandmother's name, because I'm named after my grandmother, both my grandmothers, Eilleen and Regina .
I think, in my mind, I was just not really wanting to be called my grandmother's name onstage, so I decided to change it to Shania Twain. I met somebody with the name Shania, thought it was beautiful, and Shania Twain was born." Kayleigh Rose Amstutz The “Good Luck, Babe!” singer’s onstage persona— Chappell Roan —has always been a “drag project,” allowing her to set boundaries and separate her personal life from the industry.
Oddly enough, Gigi Hadid got her stage name in school when the teacher would confuse her and a girl named Helena. Since her mom called her "gigi" as a term of endearment at home, she told the teacher to just call her Gigi and it simply stuck. If you're looking for an explosive action-star name, how about Vin Diesel instead? Miley Cyrus ' bright smile is what inspired her childhood nickname, Smiley.
Eventually the name was shortened to Miley and it stuck. Apparently the singer looked more like a Bruno than a Peter, so one day his dad started calling him Bruno. Ever since, he has been known as Bruno Mars .
Before the meat dresses and chart-topping music, Lady Gaga was just an everyday girl from New York. Jason Sudeikis confirmed on Today that he was named Daniel after his father, but following some confusion, his mom started using his middle name Jason to avoid confusion. Emma Stone ended adopting this stage name after finding out that the Screen Actors Guild already had a member registered under her birthname.
Turns out Reese isn't even Reese Witherspoon 's middle name. The actress chose the moniker in honor of her mother, whose maiden name is Reese. Every artist has an alter ego, and Lana Del Rey just happens to be the persona of choice for the singer.
In 2014, Frank Ocean legally changed his name because, why not? A little known fact about 30 Rock 's Tina Fey is that she is actually named Elizabeth. The comedian made a not so subtle tribute to her birth name by naming her character Liz Lemon. This pioneer of West Coast rap would later go on to be known as Snoop Dogg .
Turns out the "Royals" singer is really into learning about the aristocracy, hence the reason why she chose the name Lorde , but with a feminine 'e.' Before he started shaking his bonbon for the masses, music superstar Ricky Martin went by this everyday name. It's hard to believe that Iggy Azalea was born Amethyst Kelly! Fans were confused when Taylor Swift thanked then-boyfriend Adam in an acceptance speech, which lead people to the discovery that Calvin Harris is simply a stage name.
The DJ told Shortlist magazine he chose the name because his first single was more soulful and wanted something a bit more "racially ambiguous." Before she became a household name, this was what erstwhile Friend Jennifer Aniston answered to. Alicia Keys didn't always have such a musical name.
Before he became arguably the biggest movie star in the world, Tom Cruise went by this name. Back when she was born in 1980, this was how the future bigtime actress Natalie Portman greeted the world. Before she became a big-time TV star and married Ellen DeGeneres , this was the name Portia de Rossi answered to.
Guess music superstar Elton John didn't think his original name would be a hit with audiences..
