FYI Dept: The real names of celebrities

[JamesP81]

Don’t forget Geraldo Rivera / Jerry Rivers.

[Monkey Face]

Veddy intedesting...

[girlscout]

Many of these I’ve never heard, real or stage. I have to wonder ... WHY?? would Arnold George Dorsey choose Englebert Humperdinck as a stage name. It baffles my mind.

[jaydubya2]

Thats not entirely true according to snopes.com.
His birth name was Gerald Rivera.
http://www.snopes.com/media/celebrity/geraldo.asp

[jaydubya2]

Jennifer Aniston = Jennifer Anastassakis

OK that one I can understand!

[madison10]

Mel Gibson = Columcille Gibson

Dear Lord...I would have changed my name, too, just because.

[television is just wrong]

Jan Wasylewski, my stepfathers name before he became Jan Merlin.

[Dumpster Baby]

WHY??

Stage names are easier to pronounce and easier to remember if they are unusual, like Ish Kabibble:

[drjimmy]

Stage names are easier to pronounce and easier to remember if they are unusual, like Ish Kabibble

Ya mean to tell me Merwyn Bogue is not memorable enough?

[drjimmy]

WHY?? would Arnold George Dorsey choose Englebert Humperdinck as a stage name.

Did you know that the original Engelbert Humperdinck was a German composer who was a pal of Wagner? His best known work is the opera Hansel and Gretel.

[Shimmer128]

Mel Gibson was born Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson

[Tijeras_Slim]

Louis Bert Lindley, Jr

[dfwgator]

Dana Carvey on Sting : “He called himself a verb, present tense. He’s not Stung. He’s not Stinging. He’s Sting.”

[Eaker]

John Cleese John Cheese

Now that is funny!

[madison10]

Okay, so I missed Gerard. ;) Is Columcille a Scot name?

[Slings and Arrows]

Not listed: Albert Brooks (nee Albert Einstein).

[Gay State Conservative]

Ho Chi Minh

[GreenLanternCorps]

Tiger Woods and Paul McCartney should not count. I’ve known several people who go by their middle name not their first name. As for Tiger, IIRC he has been called that by everybody since childhood so it is not a “stage name”. I would bet his drivers license and (very large) bank account are under “Eldrick”

[GreenLanternCorps]

Also, Jennifer Love Hewitt is called “Love” by her friends, family, etc.. If she uses “Jennifer” in her credits is that a “stage name” and should she be on the list?