# Stage names or real names used in real life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631 "2007-11-24T19:18:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/21 "2007-11-25T04:47:21Z")
I can report from firsthand experience that Paul Stanley’s parents call him Paul, at least when talking with people outside the family. (He was born Stanley Paul Eisen, and was called by his first name growing up.) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/22 "2007-11-25T04:58:34Z")
Boris Karloff’s real name was William Henry Pratt. I recall hearing on _Biography_ that he never legally changed his name to Boris Karloff and used his birth name on his identification and to sign contracts. I don’t recall whether his friends and family called him “Bill” or “Billy” or whether they actually called him “Boris.” ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/23 "2007-11-25T05:19:53Z")
[QUOTE=postcards] No, but [Woody Herman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Herman) was a well-known clarinetist back then. What instrument does Mr. Allen play again? [/QUOTE] Damn! Me, of all people, should’ve not forgotten about him. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/24 "2007-11-25T14:31:19Z")
If i may hijack slightly (and it’s my own thread, so damn it I can), the notion that people “legally change their name” is not entirely correct. In Britain, and AIUI in many other jurisdictions, your legal name is whatever you choose to call yourself. If you decide that Maurice Micklewhite sounds stupid, and start to trade as Michael Caine instead, “Michael Caine” automatically becomes a legal name. No official procedure such as a deed poll is required by law, although in practice it helps a lot if there is some evidence of your going by the new name. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/25 "2007-11-25T16:51:38Z")
[QUOTE=NDP] Damn! Me, of all people, should’ve not forgotten about him. [/QUOTE] Don’t forget Woody Guthrie. And Woody Hays. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/26 "2007-11-25T18:07:59Z")
Hulk Hogan’s mother still call him Terry. When others called him that, he would give them a stern look and a simple “Don’t call me that”. His driver’s license lists both his stage and real names. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/27 "2007-11-25T18:26:14Z")
[QUOTE=Khadaji] Dana Carvey used to do a bit about Gordon Summers AKA sting that was quite funny. You gotta figure at least his mom still calls him Gordon. [/QUOTE] He has claimed (sorry, no cite) that even she calls him Sting. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/28 "2007-11-26T07:45:45Z")
[QUOTE=Usram] If i may hijack slightly (and it’s my own thread, so damn it I can), the notion that people “legally change their name” is not entirely correct. In Britain, and AIUI in many other jurisdictions, your legal name is whatever you choose to call yourself. If you decide that Maurice Micklewhite sounds stupid, and start to trade as Michael Caine instead, “Michael Caine” automatically becomes a legal name. No official procedure such as a deed poll is required by law, although in practice it helps a lot if there is some evidence of your going by the new name. [/QUOTE] The difference between “legally changing your name” and “changing your name in a way you can force the bureaucracy to accept” is pretty slender, IMHO. In Canada (outside Quebec) theoretically the situation is the same, but you’re still going to have to pay that $15 or whatever if you expect to have any identification issued under that name, and without ID there are a lot of people who are going to tell you and your legal name to take a hike. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/29 "2007-11-26T16:59:23Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] He has claimed (sorry, no cite) that even she calls him Sting. [/QUOTE] 'Cause isn’t there where he got the name? From his mum–because of the black and yellow shirt he used to wear? I could be completely wrong, but that’s what comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/30 "2007-11-26T18:58:11Z")
Sorry about that – I could’ve sworn I’d read his first name was “Woodrow”. My mistake. > [@](#): > > Not only is this unsupported by anything I’ve ever read on Woody - and I’ve read almost everything there is - but it’s not even the right joke shortening. On one of his stand-up albums, Woody makes a crack about standing up to a bully and saying, “Call me by my right name. Master Haywood Allen.” ??? I have no conception of what point you’re trying to make. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/31 "2007-11-26T19:52:44Z")
[QUOTE=Hostile Dialect] I would think that Jews who were encouraged to adopt Anglicized stage names would prefer to go by their real name. [/QUOTE] A friend of mine has catered parties at Joan Rivers’ home several times. He says that she politely asks to be addressed as “Mrs. Rosenberg” (her married name). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/32 "2007-11-26T20:24:46Z")
[QUOTE=Usram] If i may hijack slightly (and it’s my own thread, so damn it I can), the notion that people “legally change their name” is not entirely correct. In Britain, and AIUI in many other jurisdictions, your legal name is whatever you choose to call yourself. If you decide that Maurice Micklewhite sounds stupid, and start to trade as Michael Caine instead, “Michael Caine” automatically becomes a legal name. No official procedure such as a deed poll is required by law, although in practice it helps a lot if there is some evidence of your going by the new name. [/QUOTE] In the United States, a person is allowed to use any name he pleases, so long as there’s no fraudulent intent. **However,** if you want to use a new name other than casually, then you have to start persuading banks and government agencies and people signing contracts and such to start recognizing your new name. Often they will insist that the document reflects the name on your birth certificate unless you have an order from a court stating that your name change is legitimate. When Americans speak about “legally” changing one’s name – whether one has had to court for it or not – it’s usually shorthand for the notion that you use the new name on documents like your driver’s license, passport, social security card, checks, and tax returns. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/33 "2007-11-26T20:27:25Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] ??? I have no conception of what point you’re trying to make. [/QUOTE] I think he’s trying to say that on occasion Woody Allen has, in the context of telling a joke, used a form of his name that might give one the impression that “Woody” is a diminutive of his legal name (when really it isn’t). In such cases, the name he has used is Heywood Allen, not Woodrow Allen. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/34 "2007-11-26T20:47:53Z")
Aha! I’ve found references to “Woodrow Allen Konigsberg”, simply by searxching for it. Evidently I’m not the only person laboring under this misapprehension, which I evidently gleaned from some similarly misinformed site: > [@](#): > > Tough-guy actors weren’t the only Jews who changed their names for fame. Woody Allen was born Woodrow Allen Konigsberg, [http://www.juf.org/tweens/celebrity.aspx?id=11086](http://www.juf.org/tweens/celebrity.aspx?id=11086) The Jewish United Fund, no less. You’d think they’d have it right. So I wasn’t misremembering. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/35 "2007-11-26T21:51:03Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] I think he’s trying to say that on occasion Woody Allen has, in the context of telling a joke, used a form of his name that might give one the impression that “Woody” is a diminutive of his legal name (when really it isn’t). In such cases, the name he has used is Heywood Allen, not Woodrow Allen. [/QUOTE] You got it. (Although I don’t know why he changed the spelling of Allan to Allen.) The deeper point is that Woody just is. It’s not a nickname or a shortening of a standard name. It’s whole and complete in itself. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/36 "2007-11-26T21:57:39Z")
I just did a search and there do seem to be some people who believe that he formally changed his name to “Heywood Allen.” I wonder if anyone has seen his driver’s license or passport. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/37 "2007-11-26T22:24:33Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] I just did a search and there do seem to be some people who believe that he formally changed his name to “Heywood Allen.” I wonder if anyone has seen his driver’s license or passport. [/QUOTE] He probably just wanted to be like his idol, Mr. Jablome. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/38 "2007-11-27T02:06:52Z")
Faroukh Bulsara had pretty much everybody, all the time, except his parents, call him **Freddie Mercury** for most of his adult life. Caveat: IIRC he legally changed his name early in the band’s career. ---
**Author:** ![Tool\_of\_the\_Conspiracy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tool\_of\_the\_Conspiracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tool_of_the_Conspiracy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/39 "2007-11-27T02:26:59Z")
\ I recently read an article about an old-time comedian who was born Harry Einstein, but went by the name Harry Parke. (He famously died in Milton Berle’s lap at a Friar’s Club Roast.) Two of his three sons also became comedians: Bob Einstein, better known as Super Dave Osborne, and Albert Einstein, better known as Albert Brooks. \ ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631/40 "2007-11-27T02:52:36Z")
[QUOTE=TroubleAgain] 'Cause isn’t there where he got the name? From his mum–because of the black and yellow shirt he used to wear? I could be completely wrong, but that’s what comes to mind. [/QUOTE] Right explanation, wrong person. Gordon got the nickname from a bandmate in his band prior to The Police, Last Exit. He wore a black and yellow jumper, and the guy thought he looked like a bee. So shouldn’t he be “Bee?” If you were taking the mickey out of someone, you wouldn’t give them a cool nickname, would you? I’ll bet they called him Bee, and one day he was like, “A bee has a sting… call me that, would you?” 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-names-or-real-names-used-in-real-life/427631.md?page=3)