99 Fun Facts About Better Known as

Which Hollywood leading man, born Archibald Leach in Bristol, took US citizenship in 1942?

Cary Grant legally adopted his screen name only on 26 June 1942, the day he became a naturalised American at the age of 38.

Which Motown prodigy, born a Judkins in Saginaw, Michigan, topped the Hot 100 aged 13?

Stevie Wonder was born six weeks premature, and the oxygen-rich incubator that kept him alive caused the retinopathy that left him blind.

Which children's author, born Theodor Geisel, wrote a 1957 bestseller using just 236 different words?

Dr. Seuss built The Cat in the Hat from a publisher's list of beginner words; he first signed as Seuss, his mother's maiden name, after Dartmouth barred him from its humour magazine for drinking gin.

Which centre, born Lew Alcindor, so dominated UCLA that college basketball banned the dunk?

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar took the name privately on converting to Islam in 1968 and used it in public only from 1971, after his first NBA title; the no-dunk 'Alcindor Rule' outlasted his college career by seven years.

Which author, born Eric Arthur Blair in British India, took his pen name from a Suffolk river?

George Orwell was one of four pen names he put forward in 1932, another being Kenneth Miles; the Orwell was a river he loved in his parents' home county.

Which Honolulu-raised singer, born Peter Gene Hernandez, debuted with Doo-Wops & Hooligans in 2010?

Bruno Mars took his stage name from a childhood nickname: his father thought the two-year-old resembled wrestler Bruno Sammartino, and he added Mars because girls said he was out of this world.

Which comedian, born Caryn Johnson in Manhattan, has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony?

Whoopi Goldberg says the Whoopi came from a whoopee cushion, a joke about her flatulence on stage, and a genealogy study found no Goldberg among her ancestors.

Which golfer, born Eldrick in Cypress, California, was nicknamed after a South Vietnamese colonel?

Tiger Woods honours Colonel Vuong Dang Phong, his father Earl's friend, who was also called Tiger; the first name Eldrick was built to start with E for Earl and end with K for Kultida.

Which pope, elected in 2025, was born Robert Prevost in Chicago and is also a citizen of Peru?

Leo XIV took the name to echo Leo XIII, whose Rerum Novarum answered the Industrial Revolution; he told the cardinals that artificial intelligence now poses a comparable test for human dignity and work.

Which president, born Leslie Lynch King, was never elected to the presidency or the vice-presidency?

Gerald Ford was renamed for his stepfather, paint salesman Gerald Rudolff Ford, and only formalised the change, with the spelling Rudolph, in 1935.

Which singer, born Anna Mae Bullock and raised in Nutbush, Tennessee, won Record of the Year in 1985?

Tina Turner got the name from Ike, who picked Tina because it rhymed with Sheena, the comic-book jungle queen, and reportedly trademarked it so that another singer could take her place if she left.

Which Kiwi singer, born Ella Yelich-O'Connor, was the youngest US number one since Tiffany in 1987?

Lorde added an e to Lord, a title she found too masculine, to feminise a name that reflects her fascination with royals and aristocracy.

Which singer, born Gordon Sumner near Wallsend's shipyards, spent two years as a schoolteacher before fame?

Sting was named by a jazz bandleader, Gordon Solomon, who said his black-and-yellow striped jumper made him look like a wasp; he left the classroom for London in 1977 and formed the Police.

Which Guns N' Roses guitarist, born Saul Hudson, got his nickname from the actor Seymour Cassel?

Slash got the name because Cassel, the father of a childhood friend, saw a boy always in a hurry, zipping from one thing to another; born in London, he spent his first years in Stoke-on-Trent.

Which singer, born James Osterberg in Muskegon, Michigan, is often dubbed the Godfather of Punk?

Iggy Pop earned the Iggy from the Prime Movers, a later band, because he had drummed for an Ann Arbor high-school group called the Iguanas.

Which shock rocker, born Vincent Furnier, legally took his disbanded group's name in 1975?

Alice Cooper made the band's name legally his own to head off disputes over who owned it; the group had picked it for sounding innocuous and wholesome, a joke against their horror-show act.

Which English singer, born Declan Patrick MacManus in Paddington, released My Aim Is True in 1977?

Elvis Costello got Elvis from his managers at Stiff Records, months before Presley died, and Costello from family: his great-grandmother's maiden name, which his musician father had also used as an alias.

Which Puerto Rican rapper, born Benito Martínez Ocasio, headlined the Super Bowl LX halftime show?

Bad Bunny got the name as a boy, when he was made to wear a rabbit costume and looked so angry about it that the nickname stuck.

Which Toronto singer, born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, headlined the Super Bowl LV halftime show in 2021?

The Weeknd named himself for the weekend he left home at seventeen, then dropped the last e to avoid a trademark clash with a Canadian band already called the Weekend.

Which Western star, born Marion Morrison in Winterset, Iowa, took his lifelong nickname from the family's Airedale terrier?

John Wayne became Duke because a fireman on his route to school called the boy Little Duke, after his big Airedale, Duke; he was billed as Duke Morrison just once, in Words and Music (1929).

Which Hollywood star, born Frances Gumm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, began in vaudeville aged two with her sisters?

Judy Garland and her sisters dropped Gumm in 1934 at the urging of comedian George Jessel, after a theatre audience laughed at the name; she chose Judy herself soon after, from a popular song.

Which actor, born Maurice Micklewhite, took his surname from a Leicester Square cinema marquee?

Michael Caine was on the phone to his agent when he saw The Caine Mutiny playing at the Odeon; in 2016 he changed his name by deed poll so airport security stopped querying his passport.

Which filmmaker, born Allan Stewart Konigsberg in the Bronx, has long played clarinet in a New Orleans-style jazz band?

Woody Allen coined the name in high school to sign the quips he sent to newspaper columnists, and was being paid to write jokes before he had left his teens.

Which Oscar winner, born Eric Bishop in Texas, picked his stage name to get called up sooner at open-mic nights?

Jamie Foxx noticed female comedians were called up first, so he picked a name ambiguous enough to beat the bias, with a surname honouring 1970s comic Redd Foxx.

Which action star, born Mark Sinclair, coined a tougher stage name while working as a nightclub bouncer?

Vin Diesel took Vin from his mother's married name, Vincent, and Diesel from friends who said he ran on energy; he also sold lightbulbs by telemarketing.

Which Beetlejuice star, born a Douglas, took a stage surname to satisfy Screen Actors Guild rules?

Michael Keaton needed a new name because an actor and a daytime host already used his, and says the choice had nothing to do with Diane or Buster Keaton.

Which Oscar-winning Joker actor was born with the surname Bottom in San Juan, Puerto Rico?

Joaquin Phoenix's family legally adopted the surname Phoenix after settling in Florida, choosing the bird that rises from its ashes to mark a new beginning; as a child actor he went by Leaf.

Which comic actor, son of the radio comedian known as Parkyakarkus, voiced Marlin in Finding Nemo?

Albert Brooks was born Albert Lawrence Einstein into a show-business family; his father, radio comic Harry Einstein, performed as Parkyakarkus.

Which Gandhi (1982) Oscar winner was born Krishna Pandit Bhanji in Snainton, North Yorkshire?

Ben Kingsley's father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, was born in Zanzibar to a Gujarati family from Jamnagar; the actor joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967.

Which wrestler, born Terry Bollea, was handed his ring surname by promoter Vincent J. McMahon?

Hulk Hogan was told to dye his hair red to match; already thinning on top, he declined, quipping that he would be a blond Irishman.

Which Brazilian, born Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, won the 2007 Ballon d'Or while at AC Milan?

Kaká was dubbed Caca by his younger brother Digão, who could not pronounce Ricardo, and the nickname evolved from there.

Which heavyweight champion, raised on the south side of Brockton, Massachusetts, retired undefeated at 49-0?

Rocky Marciano was born Rocco Marchegiano and shortened it at his manager's urging after a ring announcer in Providence struggled to pronounce it; 43 of his 49 wins came by knockout.

Which Yankees catcher, born Lorenzo Pietro, won a record ten World Series as a player?

Yogi Berra's friend Jack Maguire said he looked like a yogi from India when he sat with arms and legs crossed waiting to bat, or moping after a loss.

Which ballplayer, banned by Landis in the Black Sox era, got his nickname at a mill game in Greenville, South Carolina?

Shoeless Joe Jackson took off cleats that had blistered his feet, ran to third in his stockings, and a heckler yelled 'You shoeless son of a gun, you!'; MLB lifted his ban in 2025.

Which Barcelona star, surnamed de Assis Moreira at birth, is nicknamed O Bruxo, the Wizard?

Ronaldinho, meaning little Ronaldo, was so called from the age of eight because he was usually the youngest and smallest player in youth club matches.

Which wrestler, born Roussimoff in Coulommiers, France, had a Bulgarian father and a Polish mother?

André the Giant's brother Jacques said he could do the work of three men on the family farm in Molien; his size came from gigantism caused by excess growth hormone.

Which 1990s NBA guard, given the first name Anfernee, owes his nickname to his grandmother's drawl?

Penny Hardaway's grandmother called him Pretty, which in her Southern accent sounded like Penny; the name Anfernee came from a schoolmate of his mother.

Which Negro leagues pitcher, given the name Leroy Robert, made his major league debut at 42 in 1948?

Satchel Paige said the name came from toting bags at the Mobile train station as a boy; his family changed the spelling of Page to Paige in the mid-1920s.

By what nickname was Julius Erving, the only MVP of both the ABA and the NBA, known?

Dr. J began as a high-school in-joke: Erving called his friend Leon Saunders the professor, and Saunders answered by calling him the doctor.

Which Enlightenment writer, born François-Marie Arouet, adopted his pen name in 1718 after eleven months in the Bastille?

Voltaire is thought to be an anagram of AROVET LI, the Latinised spelling of Arouet plus the initials of le jeune, the young.

Which playwright, born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, fell ill on stage in The Imaginary Invalid in 1673?

Molière, who had tuberculosis, was playing the hypochondriac Argan when a coughing fit struck; he finished the performance and died a few hours later.

Which novelist, born with the Polish surname Korzeniowski, was not fluent in English until his 20s?

Joseph Conrad's third given name, Konrad, honoured the heroes of two Adam Mickiewicz poems; he kept a strong foreign accent all his life.

Which novelist and philosopher, born Alisa Rosenbaum in Saint Petersburg, moved to the US in 1926?

Ayn Rand found fame only with her 1943 novel The Fountainhead, after two unsuccessful early novels and two Broadway plays.

Under which pen name did Daniel Handler write the 13-book series A Series of Unfortunate Events?

Lemony Snicket began as a cover name: researching his first novel, Handler used it to request pamphlets from right-wing groups without putting his real name on their mailing lists.

Under which pen name did Stephen King publish Thinner, until a bookstore clerk unmasked him in 1985?

Richard Bachman was later said to have died of 'cancer of the pseudonym', and Thinner's sales rose tenfold once King was revealed as the author.

Which revolutionary, born an Ulyanov, embraced socialism after his brother's 1887 execution?

Lenin first used the pseudonym in December 1901, possibly after the Siberian Lena River, and published What Is to Be Done? under it the next year.

Which civil rights leader, surnamed Little at birth, became el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz after the Hajj?

Malcolm X chose the letter to symbolise his unknown African ancestral surname while discarding what he called the white slavemaster name of Little.

Which frontierswoman, born Martha Canary, lies beside Hickok in Deadwood's Mount Moriah Cemetery?

Calamity Jane got her plot as a prank, by one account: four of the men who planned her funeral later said Hickok had 'absolutely no use' for her in life, so they buried her at his side as a joke on him.

Which Old West outlaw, born Henry McCarty, was shot dead in New Mexico in 1881 at about the age of 21?

Billy the Kid had escaped the hangman that spring by killing his two guards; Sheriff Pat Garrett tracked him to Fort Sumner and shot him in a darkened bedroom.

Which pop star, born Stefani Germanotta, has a stage name said to come from a Queen single?

Lady Gaga traces back to Queen's Radio Ga Ga: her producer Rob Fusari says his phone autocorrected the song title in a text message, and the new name stuck.

Which pianist, born Reginald Dwight in Pinner, built his stage name from two Bluesology bandmates?

Elton John salutes the saxophonist Elton Dean and the singer Long John Baldry, both of Bluesology. He later made the name legal and added the middle name Hercules.

Which rock frontman, born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar, designed the crest of his own band himself?

Freddie Mercury held a diploma in graphic art and design from Ealing Art College, and he drew the Queen crest shortly before the band's first album came out.

Which author, born Samuel Clemens, took his pen name from a riverboat cry for water two fathoms deep?

Mark Twain was born two weeks after Halley's Comet passed in 1835 and predicted he would leave with it too. He died the day after the comet's closest approach to the Sun in 1910.

Which Brazilian striker, named Edson after Thomas Edison, said his nickname began as a mispronounced name?

Pelé carried the schoolyard nickname to three World Cup titles, winning the first of them in 1958 aged just 17. The goalkeeper he could not pronounce was Bilé, of Vasco da Gama.

Which escape artist, born Erik Weisz in Budapest, renamed himself in tribute to a French magician?

Harry Houdini later turned on his idol, Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin: in 1908 he published The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, a book-length attempt to debunk the Frenchman.

Which screen star, born Norma Jeane Mortenson, took her stage surname from her mother's maiden name?

Marilyn Monroe owed her first name to a studio executive, Ben Lyon, who said she reminded him of the Broadway star Marilyn Miller.

Which Marvel writer, born a Lieber in Manhattan, used a pen name to save his real one for a novel?

Stan Lee was embarrassed by the low status of comics in 1941 and wanted his real name kept clean for the Great American Novel. He later made the pen name legal instead.

Which Nobel Peace Prize winner was born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu to an Albanian family in Skopje?

Mother Teresa wanted the name of Thérèse of Lisieux, patron saint of missionaries, but a nun in her convent already had it, so she settled on the Spanish spelling.

Which South African president, born Rolihlahla, was given his English first name by a schoolteacher?

Nelson Mandela's birth name, Rolihlahla, is a Xhosa word that colloquially means troublemaker. His teacher handed every pupil an English name on the first day of school.

Which songwriter, born a Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota, won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature?

Bob Dylan tried other names first, once playing piano for Bobby Vee as Elston Gunnn, spelled with three n's. He made Dylan his legal surname in 1962.

Which singer, born a Jones in Brixton, changed his name to avoid confusion with a member of the Monkees?

David Bowie borrowed the surname of James Bowie, the 19th-century American pioneer, and the knife he made popular. The Monkee he was dodging was Davy Jones.

Which drummer, born a Starkey in Liverpool, chose a stage name to suggest a country-and-western influence?

Ringo Starr took the first half from the rings he wore, and the second half paid off on stage: his singing spots were billed as Starr Time.

Which rock singer, born a Hewson, takes his nickname from a hearing-aid shop in his home city?

Bono is short for Bono Vox, a twist on Bonavox, a shop just off O'Connell Street in Dublin. His friends had earlier tried calling him Steinhegvanhuysenolegbangbangbang.

Which pop star, born Katheryn Hudson, switched to her mother's maiden name to avoid confusion with an actress?

Katy Perry had already released a gospel album at 16 as Katy Hudson, which flopped. The actress she risked being mistaken for was Kate Hudson.

Which actor, a nephew of the director of The Godfather, renamed himself after a Marvel superhero?

Nicolas Cage took the surname of Luke Cage so that nobody could accuse him of trading on the Coppola name, yet he only made the change legal in 2025.

Which author, an Oxford maths lecturer named Dodgson, made his pen name by Latinising his first two names?

Lewis Carroll came from turning Charles Lutwidge into the Latin Carolus Ludovicus, then reversing the order and translating the result back into English.

Which heavyweight champion, born Cassius Clay in Louisville, rejected his birth name as a slave name?

Muhammad Ali was given the name by Elijah Muhammad of the Nation of Islam in March 1964, shortly after winning the title. At first few journalists besides Howard Cosell would use it.

Which US president, born William Jefferson Blythe III, formally took his stepfather's surname at 15?

Bill Clinton never knew his father, a travelling salesman who died in a car accident three months before the future president was born in Hope, Arkansas.

Which conqueror, born Temüjin, adopted the title he is remembered by at a great assembly in 1206?

Genghis Khan was, in the earliest tradition, named Temüjin after a Tatar captive his father had just brought home from a victorious campaign.

Which country singer, named only J. R. at birth, needed a full first name to join the Air Force?

Johnny Cash signed up as John R. Cash in 1950 because the Air Force would not accept initials as a first name, then spent much of his four-year service in West Germany.

Which country-folk singer dropped the surname Deutschendorf because it would not fit comfortably on a marquee?

John Denver made the switch on the advice of Randy Sparks of the New Christy Minstrels, and his love of Colorado later saw one of his hits adopted as a state song.

Which Lubbock rock and roll pioneer got his stage surname from a spelling mistake in a Decca contract?

Buddy Holly was born a Holley; Decca dropped the e and he let the error stand. His headstone in Texas carries the family's original spelling.

Which singer, born Eunice Waymon, adopted a stage name to hide her nightclub work from her preacher mother?

Nina Simone joined a boyfriend's pet name for her, from the Spanish niña, to the first name of the French actress Simone Signoret.

Which Syracuse-born star kept his real surname and says a rap name generator supplied the other half?

Post Malone is really Austin Post; fans long guessed that the second half saluted the basketball star Karl Malone.

Which Community actor, born Donald Glover, took his rap alias from a Wu-Tang Clan name generator?

Childish Gambino came straight from the online generator, and in 2017 its owner told a festival crowd he meant to retire the alias after one more album.

Which Bat Out of Hell singer, born in Dallas, legally swapped the first name Marvin for Michael?

Meat Loaf said a jeans commercial that poked fun at an overweight Marvin had haunted him, so he had the name struck from his papers.

Which rapper, given the surname Crooks on his birth certificate, was renamed after an 18th-century Peruvian rebel?

Tupac Shakur was renamed for Túpac Amaru II, a descendant of the last Inca ruler who was executed in 1781 after leading a revolt against Spanish rule.

Which country star, born Harold Jenkins, is said to have picked his stage name from two towns on a map?

Conway Twitty pairs Conway, Arkansas, with Twitty, Texas. His birth name was a tribute too: a great-uncle named him after the silent film comedian Harold Lloyd.

Which electronic musician, born Richard Melville Hall in Harlem, licensed every track on his 1999 album Play?

Moby got the nickname from his father at three days old, because Richard seemed too big a name for a baby. A family story of kinship with the author of Moby-Dick did the rest.

Which Oscar-winning actor, born a Hershlag in Jerusalem, works under her paternal grandmother's maiden name?

Natalie Portman borrowed the name to shield her family: her father is a fertility specialist, and Hershlag is a distinctive surname.

Which actor, born Ramón Estévez in Dayton, Ohio, took his stage surname from a Catholic archbishop on television?

Martin Sheen says he never changed his name officially: his passport and driving licence read Estévez, and he calls dropping it for the screen one of his great regrets.

Which English dame, born Ilyena Mironoff, is the granddaughter of a Russian colonel stranded in Britain in 1917?

Helen Mirren got her surname in 1951, when her father changed the family name by deed poll. Her grandfather had come to Britain to negotiate an arms deal for the Tsar.

Which Stranger Things star, born a Horowitz, took her stage surname from a singer her father loved?

Winona Ryder chose it because a Mitch Ryder album was playing when she was asked how to be credited. Her first name honours the Minnesota city nearest her birthplace.

Which Alien star, born Susan, renamed herself at 14 after a minor character in The Great Gatsby?

Sigourney Weaver grew up around show business: her father, Pat Weaver, was president of NBC in the 1950s, and her mother was the English actress Elizabeth Inglis.

Which Hong Kong action star got his English first name from a fellow builder on a Canberra construction site?

Jackie Chan was Little Jack to the crew, after an older builder named Jack who took him under his wing. His father had moved to Canberra to cook for the American embassy.

Which horror star, born William Pratt in south London, made 81 films before his breakthrough as a monster?

Boris Karloff said he picked the first name simply because it sounded foreign and exotic, and always maintained that the surname came from his family.

Which Hollywood star, born Lucille LeSueur in San Antonio, had her screen name chosen in a fan-magazine contest?

Joan Crawford was the runner-up name: the winning entry, Joan Arden, already belonged to another actress. She later said the replacement surname reminded her of crawfish.

Which Marx brother, born Adolph, never spoke in the team's films and communicated by horn or whistle?

Harpo disliked Adolph and had switched to Arthur by 1911. His stage name came with his brothers', handed out by the monologist Art Fisher during a poker game.

Which Dracula (1931) star, born a Blaskó in Austria-Hungary, took a stage surname honouring his home town?

Bela Lugosi adopted the name in 1903 in tribute to Lugos, the town where he was born, which is now Lugoj in Romania.

Which rapper, born Belcalis Almánzar in New York, turned a rum-brand nickname into her stage name?

Cardi B is a trimmed version of Bacardi, the nickname she already answered to. Her younger sister really is named Hennessy.

Which Middlemarch author, born Mary Ann Evans, used a male pen name so her fiction would be taken seriously?

George Eliot had a private life to shield as well: for 24 years she lived openly with the married G. H. Lewes and called him her husband.

Under which male pen name did J. K. Rowling publish the crime novel The Cuckoo's Calling?

Robert Galbraith was unmasked after word leaked from a lawyer's circle to a Sunday Times reporter. Rowling said she would have liked to stay anonymous a while longer.

Which vampire novelist, named Howard at birth after her father, renamed herself on her first day of school?

Anne Rice gave the new name to a nun who asked what she was called. She later hid behind two more, Anne Rampling and A. N. Roquelaure, for her erotic fiction.

Under which pen name did William Sydney Porter publish stories while jailed for bank embezzlement?

O. Henry was one of several aliases on the 14 stories he placed from the Ohio Penitentiary, where the trained pharmacist worked nights in the prison hospital.

Which Nobel-winning poet, born Neftalí Reyes, is thought to have taken his pen surname from a Czech writer?

Pablo Neruda is thought to echo the Czech poet Jan Neruda. His father opposed his writing, but Gabriela Mistral, who ran the local school, encouraged the boy.

Under which pen name did a 16-year-old Benjamin Franklin slip letters under the door of his brother's print shop?

Silence Dogood was a middle-aged widow of Franklin's own invention, created because he suspected his brother James would refuse to print anything he knew his apprentice had written.

Which Belgian cartoonist, born Georges Remi, formed his pen name from the sound of his initials reversed?

Hergé is how the letters RG sound in French. He tried Jérémie and Jérémiades first, then signed The Adventures of Tintin with the name that stuck.

Which Hall of Fame pitcher is commonly said to have been given a flashier nickname by A's owner Charles O. Finley?

Catfish Hunter is said to have got the name because Finley thought his new pitcher needed something catchier. The tale of a boyhood fishing trip that came with it was untrue.

Which pitcher, christened Denton True, got his nickname after his fastballs left fences looking storm-damaged?

Cy Young is short for Cyclone, the storm those wrecked fences were said to resemble. A year after he died in 1955, baseball named its award for the best pitcher after him.