# Why do so many Hollywood folks change their names? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 25, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609 "2011-02-25T18:21:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/21 "2011-02-25T21:18:59Z")
Young Chuck Levine had to change his name. Who ever heard of a Jewish comedy writer from New York City? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/22 "2011-02-25T21:21:11Z")
> [@jk1245](#): > > (Aside - How do you pronounce “Chaim”? Is it “Shame”? “Shy-eem”? "Chaim "(like “chain” with an m)? I’ve never heard it pronounced, and I’ve communicated with a few Chaims in a work capacity, but never spoke with them directly, and wondered how it was pronounced) Rhymes with “rhyme”, more or less. The initial consonant is a sort of “kh” sound. ---
**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:** [February 25, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/23 "2011-02-25T21:21:14Z")
> [@](#): > > (Aside - How do you pronounce “Chaim”? Is it “Shame”? “Shy-eem”? "Chaim "(like “chain” with an m)? I’ve never heard it pronounced, and I’ve communicated with a few Chaims in a work capacity, but never spoke with them directly, and wondered how it was pronounced) Properly, the “Ch” is a back-of-the-throat guttural, as in German “ach”. The rest is “ahh-eem”, which may be kept as separate sounds or elided into a single sound. I suspect different people prefer different pronunciations. In light of what people said above, I suspect the producer pronounces it “Charles”. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/24 "2011-02-25T21:22:20Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Cary Grant is a Movie Star. Archie Leach is an usher. Or a British barrister. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/25 "2011-02-25T21:30:28Z")
I myself have gone through a name change. My last name is very unusual, hard to pronounce and even harder to spell. When I went into broadcasting, my first boss (as well as my second and third) urged me to use an “air name” so neither I nor anyone else would indavertently stumble over pronouncing my real name. Some of my fellow deejays took air names because they wanted to keep their private and public lives separate. One woman I worked with received several overenthisastic love letters from a prison inmate. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/26 "2011-02-25T21:35:15Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > In the case of Sheen, he took his father’s stage name. Martin Sheen was born Ramon Estevez, but made the change so that he wouldn’t be typecast in Hispanic roles. Interesting that Emilio Estevez didn’t make the change, too. Do you know why he didn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/27 "2011-02-25T21:36:50Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I myself have gone through a name change. My last name is very unusual, hard to pronounce and even harder to spell. When I went into broadcasting, my first boss (as well as my second and third) urged me to use an “air name” so neither I nor anyone else would indavertently stumble over pronouncing my real name. Makes sense, but apparently nobody told [Hoda Kotb](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoda_kotb). Or [Bianna Golodryga.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bianna_Golodryga) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/28 "2011-02-25T22:11:56Z")
If you are making a horror movie, would you rather the lead was played by Boris Karloff, or [William Pratt](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000472/)? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/29 "2011-02-25T22:16:48Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Makes sense, but apparently nobody told [Hoda Kotb](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoda_kotb). > > Or [Bianna Golodryga.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bianna_Golodryga) Or perhaps, someone told them, and they refused the advice. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/30 "2011-02-25T22:26:12Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Natalie Portman’s real name is Natalie Hershlag. I think she made a wise choice just like many of them do for branding purposes. IIRC, she was already billed as Natalie Portman when she did _The Professional_ in 1994, she would have only been 12/13 at the time, so her mother, he is also her agent, probably did the name change. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/31 "2011-02-25T22:27:49Z")
Or perhaps these days people don’t care as much about their tv/movie persoanlities having hard to say, and thus assumed to be non-American, names. Nicholas Cage changed his name from Nicholas Coppola, he’s Francis Ford Coppola’s nephew, to avoid nepotism. He wanted to make it on his own. I can respect that. Edit: the first sentence is meant for **Kenobi 65**. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/32 "2011-02-25T22:37:48Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > That’s not Chuck Lorre’s real name; he was born Charles Michael Levine. In the case of Charlie Sheen it sounds to me like he was trying to make a subtle anti-Semitic dig. What a sad, small man! Either that, or it’s the drugs talking, or the “dry drug” effect if he’s abstaining, and if there is such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/33 "2011-02-25T22:40:28Z")
> [@Tahssa](#): > > Nicholas Cage changed his name from Nicholas Coppola, he’s Francis Ford Coppola’s nephew, to avoid nepotism. He wanted to make it on his own. I can respect that. You might have less respect when you consider Cage only wanted to avoid the appearance of nepotism. He apparently was okay accepting the benefits of it however. He took roles in several of his Uncle Francis’ movies early in his career. ---
**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:** [February 25, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/34 "2011-02-25T22:54:03Z")
Albert Brooks’ real name is Albert Einstein. His brother is Bob Einstein, who played “stuntman” Super Dave Osbourne and Marty on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Moving to the music world, we have: Chaim Witz - Gene Simmons Stanley Eisen - Paul Stanley Edward Mahoney - Eddie Money Hugh Anthony Cregg III - Huey Lewis ---
**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:** [February 25, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/35 "2011-02-25T23:16:23Z")
Acting used to be a disreputable profession. No actors were allowed into polite society (except possibly a handful of the elite). Women were considered prostitutes, men grifters or homosexual (back when that wasn’t just a slur but outright illegal). Actors couldn’t stay in most hotels when they traveled, because then decent people would have to mingle with them. Actors changed their names to protect their families from the shame, along with the many other reasons already given. I also agree that it used to happen much more frequently than now. In the old days, probably 99.9%\* of stage names were, well, stage names. Now it’s much lower. - Not including the children of acting families, who, like the Barrymores, kept their names. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/36 "2011-02-26T00:01:22Z")
In the past Eliza Dushku would have changed her name. Now it’s OK to have an unusual name. Engelbert Humperdinck sounds like a real name but it’s not , he’s Arnold George Dorsey. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/37 "2011-02-26T00:05:25Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Interesting that Emilio Estevez didn’t make the change, too. Do you know why he didn’t? I think I heard it was because he wanted to stay true to his roots, but the IMDB says he didn’t want to be accused of cashing in on his father’s name. Right now, the decision looks even better because of his brother. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/38 "2011-02-26T00:07:24Z")
Martin Sheen took his last name from Archbishop Fulton Sheen. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/39 "2011-02-26T00:11:50Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Engelbert Humperdinck sounds like a real name but it’s not , he’s Arnold George Dorsey. [Of course it’s a real name!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engelbert_Humperdinck) Who’s this Dorsey character? Some latter-day charlatan, I suppose, trying to capitalize on the name of a famous musician! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609/40 "2011-02-26T00:12:23Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I think I heard it was because he wanted to stay true to his roots, but the IMDB says he didn’t want to be accused of cashing in on his father’s name. Right now, the decision looks even better because of his brother. 🙂 Not a bad decision all around! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-hollywood-folks-change-their-names/572609.md?page=3)