Stage name

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For the Okkervil River album, see The Stage Names.

A stage name, also called a screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.

Motivation to use a stage name[edit]

A performer will often take a stage name because his/her real name is considered unattractive, dull, unintentionally amusing or difficult to pronounce or spell, or because it has been used by another notable individual or because it projects an undesired image. Sometimes a performer adopts a name that is unusual or outlandish to attract attention. Other performers use a stage name in order to retain anonymity. The equivalent concept among writers is called a nom de plume or pen name, while the term ring name is used in professional wrestling. In radio, the term "radio name" or "air name" is used. For example, well-known talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, who now uses his real name, was known under the radio name Jeff Christie in his days as a top-40 disk jockey.

Family connection[edit]


Guild and association rules[edit]

Guilds and associations that represent actors, such as the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) in the United States and British Actors' Equity Association in the United Kingdom, stipulate that no two members may have identical working names. An actor whose name has already been taken must choose a new name. Notable examples include David Tennant, born David McDonald, who said in an interview that he adopted the surname "Tennant" after seeing Neil Tennant in a copy of Smash Hits, Nathan Lane, whose birth name Joseph Lane was already in use, Stewart Granger, whose birth name was James Stewart, and Michael Keaton, born Michael Douglas. (The rumor that Michael Keaton changed his surname because of an attraction to actress Diane Keaton is incorrect.[2] He chose Keaton because of an affinity for the physical comedy of Buster Keaton.[3]) Diane Keaton, whose birth name is Diane Hall, took her mother's maiden name as a stage name after learning that there was already a registered actress named Diane Hall in the Actors' Equity Association. Ugly Betty actress Vanessa Williams officially uses "Vanessa L. Williams" due to SAG guidelines, although the other actress with same first and last names (Vanessa A. Williams) is arguably less notable. Similarly, David Walliams changed one letter in his surname due to there being another "David Williams". Terry O'Quinn of Lost fame changed his surname from Quinn to O'Quinn as another registered actor already had the name Terrance Quinn. Long time writer for The Simpsons, David X. Cohen changed his middle initial from S to X because there was already a David S Cohen registered with the Writer's Guild of America. In other cases, a middle name may be adopted in preference to changing a name. Examples include comedian Hugh Dennis (born Peter Hugh Dennis), actor-comedian Hugh Laurie (born James Hugh Calum Laurie) and actor Timothy Carlton (Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch).

A person hoping to become successful as an entertainer who has a name identical to a name already familiar to the public (in any field of endeavor) may change his/her name in order to not have his/her name evoke the other person with that name. By way of example, the actor/writer/director Albert Brooks was born "Albert Einstein" and changed his surname so that his name would not be a distraction that would evoke the renowned physicist of the same name. Singer Katy Perry, born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, released her self-titled album under the name Katy Hudson, but later used her mother's maiden name to avoid confusion with actress Kate Hudson. Singer David Bowie (born David Robert Jones) changed his name to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees. Singer Ray Charles, born Ray Robinson, changed his name to avoid confusion with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.

Involuntary name changes[edit]


Former child star Patty Duke (whose real name is Anna Marie Duke) had her stage name chosen for her by her first managers. Their choice of the name "Patty" was inspired by another child actress named Patty McCormack (Patty Duke later entitled her autobiography Call Me Anna (ISBN 0-553-27205-5) ).

Cary Grant (born Archibald Leach) had his name selected for him by Paramount Pictures. He had been using the name "Cary Lockwood", but the studio decided against it, deeming it too similar to another actor working at the time. Cary and the studio eventually settled on "Cary Grant" (Grant thought the letters "C" and "G" to be lucky: they had brought previous success for both Clark Gable and Gary Cooper). Joan Crawford, born Lucille Fay LeSueur, had her name changed as a result of a magazine poll organised by her studio, MGM. In a similar vein, The Spice Girls (Sporty, Posh, Ginger, Scary, and Baby) had their names bestowed upon them by a British music magazine.


In the past, a stage name was often used when a performer's real name was considered to denote a specific ethnicity that faced potential discrimination. An example of this type of name change involved Freddie Mercury of the British rock band Queen, who was born Farrokh Bulsara to Parsi parents; his name change was partly intended to conceal his heritage. Italian-American actress Bernadette Peters, who was born Bernadette Lazzara, changed her last name to avoid being typecast as women who were Italian or of Italian heritage. Similarly, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith changed his name from the original Stephen Victor Tallarico "for more promotional appeal".[5] The actor Kal Penn changed his name from Kalpen Modi for professional purposes; after changing his name, calls back increased by 50%.[citation needed] Historically, Jews in Hollywood were encouraged to anglicize their names to avoid possible discrimination. This still happens to a degree (Jason Alexander, Brad Garrett, Jonah Hill, Frank Oz, and Winona Ryder for instance), but the growing acceptance of ethnic performers in the performing arts has made this occurrence less frequent.[citation needed] Jon Stewart, contrary to popular belief, didn't anglicize his name for his career but instead because of his estranged relationship with his father.[6] Israeli-American Natalie Portman changed her name to protect her privacy.[7] Ramón Estévez changed his name to Martin Sheen as he felt it affected his job prospects due to racial discrimination and bias, although he maintains his birth name for legal documents such as his passport;[8] his sons made divergent choices: Carlos Irwin Estévez is now Charlie Sheen, while Emilio Estevez left his name unchanged. German-born actor Hans Gudegast adopted the non-German stage name of Eric Braeden. Cherilyn Sarkisian is now known to the world by the single name Cher.


The use of stage names for ethnic purposes may vary widely depending on the media market the personality is representing. For example, in Buffalo, New York, a city with a large Polish-American population, Polish-American media personalities typically work freely using their birth names (WIVB-TV has Mike Cejka as a longtime meteorologist and WKBW-TV employs a meteorologist named Aaron Mentkowski). However, when such personalities work in markets outside Western New York, they will often switch to less ethnic sounding stage names (Mentkowski, for example, uses the pseudonym “Aaron Lawrence” when forecasting for other areas of the United States).[10]

Ease of use[edit]



Relevance to image[edit]

Commonly in the music world, and especially those of heavy metal, punk rock, industrial and hip hop, musicians will rename themselves with names more menacing or striking than their birth names. Rock music examples include Deuce, Davey Havok, Slash, Sting, Darby Crash, Marilyn Manson, Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten, Zakk Wylde, Nikki Sixx, Spider One, Count Grishnackh, Necrobutcher, Blasphemer, Nivek Ogre, Rob Zombie, Dimebag Darrell, Trey Azagthoth and Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein. Every member of the punk band Ramones took the pseudonymous "Ramone" surname as part of their collective stage persona. Being that those genres pride themselves on a larger-than-life quality, larger-than-life names are desirable.

That being said, there are other performers who go in the opposite direction; they seek to project images that are anything BUT larger-than-life. As adults, they may assume stage names as a means of distancing themselves from publicly known childhood names that could be considered professionally embarrassing, outlandish, or otherwise inappropriate. Film director Duncan Jones (son of singer David Bowie) was known publicly as a child as Zowie Bowie. The children of musician Frank Zappa have each gone in different directions professionally with regards to their names; daughters Moon Unit and Diva Muffin are now known professionally under the more sedate names Moon Zappa and Diva Zappa (his sons Dweezil and Ahmet, on the other hand, have seen fit to retain their childhood names as a means of projecting larger-than-life personas).

Pop musicians seeking to utilize catchy, marketable names include Madonna, Lady Gaga, Prince, Keith Sweat, Pink, as well as R&B musicians Jamie Foxx and Alicia Keys, though both Madonna and Prince were given those names at birth (Lady Gaga named herself after the song "Radio Ga Ga" by Queen).


Hip Hop artists are known to use stage names but at times do advertise or bring out their real names such as rappers Jay-Z (born Shawn Carter), 50 Cent (born Curtis Jackson), Diddy (born Sean Combs), Ludacris (born Chris Bridges), Lil' Wayne (born Dwayne Carter Jr.), and Soulja Boy (born DeAndre Way). Eminem has used his real name, Marshall Mathers, in various public events and as an alter ego as his real name gained recognition following the release of his multi-platinum album, The Marshall Mathers LP. Similarly, LL Cool J released the albums Mr. Smith and Todd Smith in 1995 and 2006, respectively, under his real name Todd Smith. Rapper-Singer-Actress Queen Latifah released The Dana Owens Album under her own given name, Dana Owens, after changing her musical focus from Hip Hop to Vocal Jazz.


Euphony and ease of remembrance[edit]




Musical use[edit]

Some types of music are more associated with stage names than others. For example hip hop and EDM artists almost always use stage names (with Jim Buchanan being an acknowledged expert on their real names), whereas "classical" composers and performers virtually never do. Classical violinist Amadéus Leopold (born in South Korea as Yoo Hanbin) and opera singers Beverly Sills (born Belle Miriam Silverman) and Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell) are rare exceptions.


Some performers take a series of different stage names. The British pop singer successful in the 1970s as Alvin Stardust previously went by the stage name of Shane Fenton in the 1960s. He had been born Bernard William Jewry. Some performers will use different names in different settings. Charles Thompson, singer/songwriter for the alternative band the Pixies, was known in that band as Black Francis. He was called Frank Black as a solo performer, and again called Black Francis in a reunited Pixies.



See also[edit]



  1. ^
  2. ^ Dinner With Daniel: Michael Keaton |first=Daniel |last=Kellison | July 13, 2012.
  5. ^ Aerosmith secures a Columbia recording
  6. ^
  7. ^
  10. ^ Aaron Lawrence at Precision Weather Service Web site.