Celebrities You Didn't Know Use Stage Names

Celebrity Lists
Updated January 26, 2023 2.1M views476 items
Voting Rules
Famous people who you know by their pseudonyms - no surnames changed because of marriage

List of celebrities with stage names, loosely ranked according to fame and popularity. It's tough to break into show business, but a good stage name might give you a leg up in a sea of boring Joe Smiths and Anne Taylors. This list includes famous people you didn't know were using fake stage names, including those who go by their middle names and celebrities who used variations of family names. A number of people on this list changed their names to avoid confusion with other actors. For example, the Batman you know as Michael Keaton was born Michael John Douglas - not to be confused with Michael Kirk Douglas (whose own father, Kirk Douglas, was born Issur Danielovitch). Other celebrities changed their names to protect their privacy. Natalie Hershlag was a famous child actress, but you have always known her as Natalie Portman. Some celebrities who use pseudonyms changed their names themselves just because they sounded better.

This list of famous stage names includes celebrities who go by nicknames and famous people who have changed their names. It does not, however, include female celebrities who use their married surnames professionally, famous people who were adopted by stepparents at a young age and had their names legally changed as children, or celebrities with obviously theatrical stage names, such as many wrestlers and eponymous artists. You know Adele must have a last name. You know Sting's real name is not Sting. You are pretty sure it's not just a coincidence that the Macho Man's last name was Savage. For more lists of celebrity names, check out the funniest real names of celebrities and this list of stupid celebrity baby names.

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  • Billie Eilish - born Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell
    Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell (born December 18, 2001), known professionally as Billie Eilish, is an American singer and songwriter signed to Interscope Records. Her first experience with music occurred when she was 8 years old with the Los Angeles Children's Choir. She crafts most of her music with her brother Finneas O'Connell, who she dubbed her "partner-in-crime" in an interview with Vogue. Her debut single, "Ocean Eyes" (originally recorded for her dance teacher & released in November 2015), went viral and has racked up over 35 million streams on Spotify alone as of February 2018. Her debut EP, Don't Smile at Me (stylized as dont smile at me) was released in August 2017. Following the EP's success, Apple named Eilish as its newest Apple Music UPNEXT artist a month later in October 2017.
  • Taika Waititi - born Taika David Cohen
    Taika David Waititi (born 16 August 1975), also known as Taika Cohen, is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor and comedian. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his 2004 short film Two Cars, One Night. His feature films Boy (2010) and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) have each been the top-grossing New Zealand film, with the latter still holding that title as of 2018. He co-directed and starred in the horror comedy film What We Do in the Shadows (2014) with Jemaine Clement. In 2017, he directed the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Thor: Ragnarok, in which he also played the character Korg, a role he went on to reprise in Avengers: Endgame (2019).
  • Olivia Colman - born Sarah Caroline Sinclair
    Sarah Caroline Olivia Sinclair CBE (née Colman; 30 January 1974), better known as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three British Academy Television Awards, a British Academy Film Award, three Golden Globe Awards, four British Independent Film Awards and a BFI Fellowship. A graduate of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Colman first came to prominence for her work in television. She made her acting breakthrough in the Channel 4 comedy series Peep Show (2003–2015). Major film roles include supporting roles in Hot Fuzz (2007), The Iron Lady (2011), Hyde Park on Hudson (2012), The Lobster (2015), and Murder on the Orient Express (2017); and leading roles in Tyrannosaur (2011), The Favourite (2018) and The Father. For portraying Anne, Queen of Great Britain in The Favourite, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
  • Issa Rae - born Jo-Issa Rae Diop

    Issa Rae - born Jo-Issa Rae Diop

    Jo-Issa Rae Diop (born January 12, 1985), credited professionally as Issa Rae, is an American actress, writer, and producer. Rae first garnered attention for her work on the YouTube web series Awkward Black Girl. Since 2011, Rae has continued to develop her YouTube channel, which features various short films, web series, and other content created by black people.
  • Winona Ryder - born Winona Laura Horowitz
    Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), known professionally as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. She is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award and has been nominated for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. Following her film debut in Lucas (1986), Ryder came to attention with her performance in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice (1988). She rose to prominence with starring roles in such films as Heathers (1988), Mermaids (1990), Edward Scissorhands (1990), and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). Her career was further enhanced when she garnered critical acclaim and two consecutive Academy Award nominations for her portrayal of socialite May Welland in Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence (1993) and as Jo March in the film adaptation of Little Women (1994). Her other films during this period were Reality Bites (1994), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), Alien Resurrection (1997), and Girl, Interrupted (1999), which she also executive produced. In 2002, Ryder appeared in the critically panned box office hit Mr. Deeds, following which her career saw a downturn, and she took a sabbatical from films. In 2009, she returned to the screen after a brief hiatus following her shoplifting arrest, appearing in high-profile films such as Star Trek. In 2010, she was nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards: as the lead actress in When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story and as part of the cast of Black Swan. She also reunited with Burton for Frankenweenie (2012). She currently stars as Joyce Byers in the Netflix series Stranger Things, for which she has received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations. Ryder's personal life has attracted significant media attention. Her relationship with Johnny Depp in the early 1990s and a 2001 arrest for shoplifting were both constant subjects of tabloid journalism. She has been open about her personal struggles with anxiety and depression. In 2000, Ryder received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, honoring her legacy in the film industry.
  • Zoe Saldaña - born Zoe Yadira Saldaña Nazario
    Zoë Yadira Saldaña Nazario is an American actress. Following her performances with the theater group Faces, Saldana made her screen debut in a 1999 episode of Law & Order. Her film career began a year later with Center Stage (2000), where she played a struggling ballet dancer. Saldana became known for her work in science fiction films, beginning in 2009 with her first of multiple appearances as Nyota Uhura in the Star Trek film series and her first appearance as Neytiri in the Avatar film series. She has also played Gamora in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). Due to her appearances in some of the highest-grossing films of all time, such as Avatar, and Avengers Endgame, she is the second highest-grossing film actress of all time. Her films having collectively grossed more than $4 billion worldwide.