What's in a name? While the answer, in theory, should be absolutely nothing, the reality is a whole lot different — just ask your favorite stars, Olivia Cockburn and Elgin Lumpkin — or as you probably know them, Olivia Wilde and Ginuwine.
From Joaquin Phoenix's OG last name to Ralph Lauren before his WASP-y rebrand, here are 21 celebrity "real names" you'd probably change too.
1
Akon — a.k.a. Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam
2
Ralph Lauren — a.k.a. Ralph Lifshitz
3
Gene Simmons — a.k.a. Chaim Witz
4
Michael Caine — a.k.a. Maurice Joseph Micklewhite
5
Stevie Wonder — a.k.a. Stevland Hardaway Morris
6
Elton John — a.k.a. Reginald Kenneth Dwight
7
Lucy Hale — a.k.a. Karen Lucy Hale
8
Hulk Hogan — a.k.a. Terry Gene Bollea
9
Shawn Michaels – a.k.a. Michael Shawn Hickenbottom
10
Judy Garland — a.k.a. Frances Ethel Gumm
11
Snoop Dogg — Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr.
12
Joaquin Phoenix — a.k.a. Joaquin Rafael Bottom
13
Gerald Ford — a.k.a. Leslie Lynch King Jr.
14
Ice Cube — a.k.a. O'Shea Jackson Sr.
15
Mickey Rooney — a.k.a. Joseph Yule, Jr.
16
Greta Garbo — a.k.a Greta Lovisa Gustafsson
17
Ginuwine — a.k.a. Elgin Baylor Lumpkin
18
Cary Grant — a.k.a. Archibald Leach
19
Takeoff — a.k.a. Kirsnick Khari Ball
20
Olivia Wilde — a.k.a. Olivia Jane Cockburn
21
Demi Moore — a.k.a Demi Gene Guynes
