Happy Middle Name Appreciation Day To All These Celebrites Who Go By Their Middle Names
Happy Middle Name Appreciation Day!
You've gotta love weird random holidays - and March 11 is a good one. It's Middle Name Appreciation day, a day to appreciate the little extra name that most of us are given at birth. ('You can have one extra name,' they said, "as a treat.')
It's one of those weird secrets-that-isn't-a-secret - most people aren't hiding their middle names on purpose, but it's well established that you usually have to be pretty close with someone to learn their middle name. It's a special little thing in that way.
These celebrities, though, have a different secret: They're hiding their middle names in plain sight! There are so many people out there who have already become famous, that sometimes an organization like the SAG will require a star to change their name so as not to create confusion. Others wanted the privacy of keeping their real name for themselves; still others just liked their middle names better.
Here's 18 celebrites who started going by their middle names at some point - count how many you already knew!
Oscar Isaac
REAL NAME: Oscar Isaac Hernandez Estrada
We actually just found this one out - Isaac....or, Estrada, we guess, just told everybody in the audience at SNL that when he was choosing which names to go by, Hollywood picked "the white ones,"
Jason Sudeikis
REAL NAME: Daniel Jason Sudeikis
"I was Daniel Jason," he shared. [My father is] Daniel Joseph, and my mum decided to call me Jason, so that we knew which one she was yelling at," the Ted Lasso star explained on an episode of The Today Show.
Rihanna
REAL NAME: Robyn Rihanna Fenty
Rihanna knew she wanted to go by one name, it would seem, but the name Robyn was already taken by a Swedish singer of the same name by the time she started making music - so she went with the middle one instead.
Tina Fey
REAL NAME: Elizabeth Stamatina Fey
Fun fact: Her first name, Elizabeth, is where they got the 'Liz' for her character Liz Lemon in 30 Rock! She's been going by Tina for a long time, though, since before she was famous.
(Source: I went to the same middle and high school as her. All the teachers who remember having her still refer to her as Tina.)
Meghan Markle
REAL NAME: Rachel Meghan Markle
It's easy to forget that the former Duchess of Sussex was an actress before she married Prince Harry: That's the most likely reason that she doesn't use her first name - and she didn't back when she acted in shows like Suits, either. Alliteration can be very helpful in creating a memorable stage name.
Mindy Kaling
REAL NAME: Vera Mindy Chokalingam
Mindy Kaling changed her last name because back when she was doing stand-up, emcee's kept mispronouncing 'Chokalingam,' and she got tired of having to correct them every time. As for going by Mindy instead of Vera, she hasn't given a direct explanation for that one, but we do know that she was given the name because her mother watched a lot of Mork & Mindy while pregnant with her.
Reese Witherspoon
REAL NAME: Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon
Technically, Reese Witherspoon is going by her real name, because she had it legally changed early on in her career - but she picked Reese, her mother's maiden name, simply because it sounded more "Hollywood" than Laura.
Keke Palmer
REAL NAME: Lauren Keyana Palmer
So Keke Palmer isn't technically her real name, but it basically is. As she told Jimmy Kimmel in 2012:
"Actually Keke is my nickname. When I was little, my sister was about four years old, and she had an imaginary friend named Keke, and she wanted my name to be Keke. And first, my mom was like, 'You, know, I don't think that's a good idea because she may grow up and want a more professional-sounding name.' So she named me Lauren Keyana Palmer, but ever since then, everybody's called me Keke."
(Oh, sure, but when I wanna name my little sister Paprika after the new character in Blues Clues, it's a no go. Humph.)
Jason Momoa
REAL NAME: Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa
Jason Momoa hasn't gone on record to talk about shortening his full name - but it was probably done just to simplify things for the actor, whose ethnic background is quite diverse. The Aquaman star is Native Hawaiian, as well as German, Irish and Native American.
Kevin Jonas
REAL NAME: Paul Kevin Jonas II
Kevin Jonas has a secret: His name's not Kevin. It's Paul. Paul Jonas. Nick, Joe, and Paul.
He changed it because his father already went by Paul, and it was just less confusing. It's not a stage name, he just goes by his middle name all the time.
Dakota Fanning
REAL NAME: Hannah Dakota Fanning
"My mom decided to complicate things by naming me Hannah Dakota and then never calling me Hannah once in my whole life...I've heard rumblings that it's a Southern thing."
Her mother and her sister - we'll get to that in a second - both go by their middle names as well.
Elle Fanning
REAL NAME: Mary Elle Fanning
"I just never went by Mary, like ever," the young actress told Glamour in 2016.
My mom goes by her middle name, and my sister [Dakota Fanning] goes by her middle name. Her first name is Hannah. It's possibly a Southern thing, I don't know. But since my mom goes by her middle name, we go by our middle names too. Although, it was awkward in school when they were calling roll call because they'd go, "Mary? Mary?" Kids would be like, "There's no Mary here." I'd awkwardly raise my hand, like, "Uh, it's me." [Laughs]
Drake
REAL NAME: Aubrey Drake Graham
Drake wasn't always Drake - it's his middle name, but even back when he was on Degrassi, he went by his given name, Aubrey Graham. Drake was the name he chose as his stage name, as a rapper - and given the fact that there are rappers who go by Snoop and Baby, it's actually a little more unusual that he kept things that tame. (That is sort of his brand, though.)
Brad Pitt
REAL NAME: William Bradley Pitt
Yeah, he's lying in the video above.
There's no big reason behind this name change - when William Pitt left Missouri to pursue acting, he just wanted a name that sounded a little more Hollywood, and Brad Pitt won over other options like Will or Bill.
Bruce Willis
REAL NAME: Walter Bruce Willis
This is another name that it seems the actor changed just because they could. Be real - can you imagine this face being paired with any name other than Bruce?
Angelina Jolie
REAL NAME: Angelina Jolie Voight
That's right - Angelina wasn't her middle name, Jolie was. Her real last name was Voight. Think about it: It couldn't be a coincidence that one of the most beautiful women on Earth has a last name that is literally just French for "pretty."
Paul McCartney
REAL NAME: James Paul McCartney
John...JAMES, George, and Ringo? That just doesn't sound as good. Like a couple of other guys on this list, Paul was named after his father, and his family called him by his middle name in order to avoid confusion.
Ashton Kutcher
REAL NAME: Christopher Ashton Kutcher
The That 70s Show actor revealed at the 2013 Kids' Choice Awards that his real name is actually Christohper; he started going by Ashton as a stage name at 19, when he first became an actor. (It is much more distinct.)
