celebrity last names

Celebrity last names

Not all celebrities were blessed with the perfect Hollywood names, but all their names look perfectly Hollywood like don't they?
It is likely the case that some of the celebrities were born under names that differ from the one they are known now. We looked at some top 25 actors and actresses. Here is the list of the surnames:

Alicia Keys
Angelina Jolie
Anne Hathaway
Ashlee Simpson
Ashley Olsen
Ashton Kutcher
Audrina Patridge
Beyonce
Natalie Portman
Brad Pitt
Bradley Cooper
Britney Spears
Cameron Diaz
Carrie Underwood
Charlie Sheen
Chris Brown
Christina Aguilera
Courteney Cox
Dakota Fanning
Daniel Radcliffe
Demi Moore
Denise Richards
Drew Barrymore
Emma Stone
Johnny Depp

Do we really believe they all are real? Or do we think the names have been changed?

Here is how the same celebrity list looks like but with their birth names attached:

Alicia Keys was born as Alicia Augello Cook. Augello was her mother's last name, so, yes, she was virtually born with two last names, but didn't seem to like either of them.
Angelina Jolie was born as Angelina Jolie Voight. Although 'Jolie' is part of her name, it is really her middle name, and this celebrity also has decided to use a arguably better sounding last name.
Anne Hathaway was born as Anne Jacqueline Hathaway and obviously has decided to keep her name!
Ashlee Simpson was born as Ashley Nicolle Simpson and obviously has decided to keep her name!
Ashley Olsen was born as Ashley Olsen and obviously has decided to keep her name!
Ashton Kutcher was born as Christopher Ashton Kutcher and while he kept his last name he is going by his middle name instead of his first one! That is of course not nearly the same as changing your surname but still.
Audrina Patridge was born as Audrina Cathleen Patridge and obviously has decided to keep her name!
Beyonce was born as Beyonce Giselle Knowles and just dropped her whole name except for the first part of it. But since Beyonce was her mother's maiden name, one can consider that she actually did change her last name.
Natalie Portman was born as Natalie Hershlag. Just changed her last name to a better sounding one.
Brad Pitt was born as William Bradley Pitt, and while he kept his family name, his middle name became his stage name.
Bradley Cooper was born as Bradley Charles Cooper, and he kept his family name.
Britney Spears was born as Britney Jean Spears, and she kept her family name.
Cameron Diaz was born as Cameron Michelle Diaz, and she kept her family name.
Carrie Underwood was born as Carrie Marie Underwood, and she kept her family name.
Charlie Sheen was born as Carlos Irwin Estevez. He completely changed his name, first and last ones together.
Chris Brown was born as Christopher Maurice Brown, and he kept his surname.
Christina Aguilera was born as Christina Maria Aguilera, and she kept her family name.
Courteney Cox was born as Courteney Bass Cox, and she kept her family name.
Dakota Fanning was born as Hannah Dakota Fanning, and she kept her family name. She did assume her middle name as her first name which seems like a common trait among many celebrities.
Daniel Radcliffe was born as Daniel Jacob Radcliffe, and he kept his surname.
Demi Moore was born as Demetria Gene Guynes, and took her first husband's name as her stage name.
Denise Richards was born as Denise Lee Richards, and she kept her family name.
Drew Barrymore was born as Drew Blyth Barrymore, and she kept her family name.
Emma Stone was born as Emily Jean Stone, and she kept her family name.
Johnny Depp was born as John Christopher Depp, and he kept his family name.

Interesting, isn't it?
Out of 25 well known people six did change their names. It is not really that many if you think about it, but it is also higher than normal, especially considerring that only one name change was a result of a marriage. But was it all just vanity, or there could be something more to it? What we saw was unexpected, somewhat sad, and not really surprising when you think about it...

Let's just look together at the six celebrities that did change their names:

Alicia Keys changed her last name. Her parents divorced when she was two years old.
Angelina Jolie changed her last name. Her parents divorced when she was one year old.
Beyonce changed her stage name to be her first name which is also her mother's maiden name. That can be considered to be a last name change. Of course, we will never know what she was thinking, but it is very concivable. Her parents divorced when she was 14.
Natalie Portman changed her last name. Her parents stayed together. That is certainly the case of changing the name purely for the vanity sake.
Charlie Sheen changed his last name. His parents stayed together. That is certainly the case of changing the name purely for the vanity sake.
Demi Moore changed her stage name to be the name of her first husband. Her parents had divorced before she was even born.

And then let's look at the ones who kept they surnames intact:

Anne Hathaway kept her name. Her parents stayed together.
Ashlee Simpson kept her name. Her parents divorced but only in 2013, so effectivelly they stayed together while she was shaping her career.
Ashley Olsen kept her surname. Her parents divorced when she was nine.
Ashton Kutcher kept his last name, but moved his first and middle names around. His parents divorced when he was 16.
Audrina Patridge kept her name, and her parents stayed together.
Brad Pitt kept his name, but moved his first and middle names around. His parents stayed together.
Bradley Cooper kept his name, and his parents stayed together.
Britney Spears kept her name, and her parents stayed together.
Cameron Diaz kept her name, and her parents stayed together.
Carrie Underwood kept her name, and her parents stayed together.
Chris Brown kept his name, but his parents divorced when he was six.
Christina Aguilera kept her name, but her parents divorced when she was six.
Courteney Cox kept her name, but her parents divorced when she was 10.
Dakota Fanning kept her name, and her parents stayed together.
Daniel Radcliffe kept his name, and his parents stayed together.
Denise Richards kept her name, and her parents stayed together.
Drew Barrymore kept her name, but her parents divorced when she was nine.
Emma Stone kept her name, and her parents stayed together.
Johnny Depp kept his name, but his parents divorced when he was 15.

Out of six celebrities who changed their names four were raised in the families with severe marital issues that lead to divorces. For three of them the divorces happened before they were even two years old. For one (Beyonce) it happened at 14. But Her name change is somewhat different. It is not even clear if she just did not want to keep her family name or she wanted to go by first name only. For the three celebrities that had divorces before they were two, the result was the same - they changed their stage names. I tend to believe that vanity has nothing to do with it - they simply did not feel connected to their family name strong enough.
There were two 'opportunists' who must have changed their names for vanity reasons only: Portman and Sheen. Well, power to them - I am honestly surprised there were only two...
For the celebrities that kept their names... 11 of them lived in families that never divorced. The rest, eight of them, lived in the families that divorced when the kids were somewhat older, between six and 16. The fact that there is no name changes among those tells me that they must have enough time to connect them with their family names enough to really consider them their own.

We looked at 25 top random celebrities only. And yet I think the evidence are quite compelling. I started writing this article thinking about celebrities and how often they change their names for vanity reasons. But I don't believe it to be the case anymore. Surely there are some doing just that, but the main reason for the name changes is the family issues and divorces encountered very early in lives of the future celebrities. The divorces resulted in disconnects between celebrities and the families that gave them their original names.