Think about your name, then think about the ones announced at awards shows. Chances are, the latter are way more interesting. That’s because once you decide you want to be famous, you’re free to go by whatever you want to hear called from the stage (ideally by Channing Tatum). That’s exactly what these 16 famous folks did.
Helen Mirren's Real Name Is the Coolest Ever
Plus other celebrities who use stage names
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Published Nov 4, 2015
Taylor Hill/Getty Images
Olivia Wilde: Olivia Jane Cockburn
Middle school must’ve been rough.
Noam Galai/Getty Images
Louis C.k.: Louis Székely
Székely pronounced, ya know, "see-kay."
Bob Thomas/Getty Images
Audrey Hepburn: Edda Kathleen Van Heemstra Hepburn-ruston
Because two names are better than six.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Michael Caine: Maurice Micklewhite
If you had any doubts that he’s British.
Steve Granitz/Getty Images
Lana Del Rey: Elizabeth Woolridge Grant
Markedly angstier.
Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images
Helen Mirren: Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov
She’s a dame and has a name that sounds like a czarina. Some girls have all the luck.
Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
Stevie Wonder: Stevland Judkins
Not Steve. Not Steven. Stevland.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Vin Diesel: Mark Sinclair Vincent
And he’s a twin!
George Pimintel/Getty Images
Natalie Portman: Natalie Hershlag
Leon Bennett/Getty Images
Albert Brooks: Albert Einstein
Well, those would’ve been some big shoes to fill.
Jeffrey Mayer/Getty Images
Maggie Gyllenhaal: Margalit Gyllenhaal
Girlfriend didn’t know her real first name until she got married in 2009.
Jim Spellman/Getty Images
Michael Keaton: Michael Douglas
There’s room for only one Michael Douglas in this town. (Hollywood, apparently.)
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Chevy Chase: Cornelius Crane Chase
Both pretty weird.
Jim Spellman/Getty Images
Garrison Keillor: Gary Keillor
Gary wasn’t NPR enough for ya?
Gilles Petard/Getty Images
Etta James: Jamesetta Hawkins
Some tricky letter play up in here.
Getty Images
Faith Hill: Audrey Faith Perry
A name like Faith Hill was just destined to become a country superstar.
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