What’s in a name? Well, it’s usually the first thing people find out about you, and it helps contribute to the essence of who you are. It’s something sacred that your parents have bestowed upon you, but hey, if you really hate it, you can just destroy that feeling and legally change your name, Milton. Celebrities do it, so it must be right, right? Yes, that last comment was riddled with sarcasm, but it’s true that celebrities often use a much more appealing name than their original name when they enter Hollywood. To learn about the real names of some celebrities, check out Celeb Names.

From what I know, this list appears to be completely legitimate, and I did some research on a few of the names just to be sure. It’s funny to see how many celebrities had dismal names throughout their childhood. For example, Nicolas Cage’s full name as a kid was Nicholas Kim Coppola. That explains a lot. By scanning through this list, you’ll see why these people wanted to have different names before they appeared in front of the public.

By the way, by using the formula at the top of the page, I found out that my celebrity name would have been Michael Riviera in the early days. I actually think that sounds pretty cool. What’s your celebrity name?