Celebrity Stage Names Different from Birth Name Quiz

Answer:

Here firstly are all the wrong answers, that is, these are the celebrities who really were born with the names we know them by:

Actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Harrison Ford, Matt LeBlanc, Sidney Poitier, all go by their birth name as do magician Penn Jillette, critic Rex Reed, and singer and Kim Carnes.

And here are the celebrities who have stage names different from their birth names:

Oscar-winning actress (for "The Favourite") Olivia Colman was born January 30, 1974, in Norwich, England. Her birth name was Sarah Colman, but when another actor was already registered with the name "Sarah Colman" in the Equity Actors Union, she had to pick a new name. She always loved the name "Olivia" so she took that as her stage name, saying that she was always called by her nickname "Colly" anyway, so not being called Sarah wasn't something she missed.

Nope, it's not Hannah Montana. Miley Cyrus's real name is Destiny Hope Cyrus, born November 23, 1992, in Franklin, Tennessee. Her parents (Letitia Jean Cyrus and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus) called her "Smiley" as a baby (because she smiled so much), and that nickname was shortened to "Miley." In 2008, Miley legally changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus taking her middle name, "Ray," to pay homage to her grandfather, country musician Ronnie Ray Cyrus.

Born in 1916, in Amsterdam, New York, Kirk Douglas's real name was Issur Danielovitch Demsky. He took on the name Kirk Douglas in the 1940s, inspired by a magazine advertisement for "Kirk Men's Wear". His son, Michael Douglas (that's his birth name), also became a Hollywood star, not to be confused with actor Michael Keaton, whose real name is Michael John Douglas.

Michael Keaton adopted that name to avoid confusion with actor Michael Douglas, but also because the Screen Actors Guild already had a "Michael Douglas" registered of course. Michael Keaton was fascinated with silent screen comic legend Buster Keaton, and liked the way the name Michael Keaton sounded.

Mindy Kaling's real name is Vera Mindy Chokalingam. Born June 24, 1979, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the actress would later shorten her surname to "Kaling" for easier pronunciation. She starred as Kelly Kapoor on TV's "The Office", but was also a writer for the show.

Actress Brie Larson was born Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers on October 1, 1989, in Sacramento, California. "Brie" is a shortened version of her first name, Brianne, and she chose "Larson" to honor her Swedish great-grandmother and also because she had and American Girl doll named Kirsten Larson when she was a little girl. And let's face it, Larson is easier to pronounce then Desaulniers.

Helen Mirren's real name is Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov, also spelled as Ilyena Lydia Petrovna Mironoff. She was born July 26, 1945, in London, England to an English mother and a Russian-born aristocrat father descended from Tsarist military nobility. To avoid anti-Russian sentiment during WWII, the family anglicized their surname Mironoff to Mirren when Ilyena was 9-years-old. "Helen" is an English version of her Russian name, Ilyena.

Born October 25, 1984, in Santa Barbara, California, pop star Katy Perry's real name was Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson. Very early in her career she released her debut album of Christian music titled "Katy Hudson" in 2001. It received mixed reviews and was not successful commercially either, so she rebranded herself as a pop artist. Since there was already an actress named Kate Hudson (see above), Katy adopted "Katy Perry" to avoid the public's confusion between her and the actress. "Perry" is her mother's maiden name.

Born June 9, 1981, in Jerusalem, Israel, actress Natalie Portman's real name is Natalie Hershlag (Hebrew: נטלי הרשלג). When she was 12-years-old, she adopted her maternal grandmother's maiden name "Portman" to protect her family's privacy when she began acting in and was cast in the film "Léon: The Professional "(1994).

Meg Ryan's real name was Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra, when she was born November 19, 1961, in Fairfield, Connecticut. Early in her acting career in Hollywood, she wanted a simpler, more memorable name, and so she shortened her first name from Margaret to Meg and used her mother's maiden name (Ryan) instead of her father's surname (Hyra).

Barbara Stanwyck's birth name was Ruby Catherine Stevens. Born July 16, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, she took the stage name "Barbara Stanwyck" early in her show biz career, upon the suggestion of Broadway producer David Belasco who said, "Ruby Stevens sounds like the name of a burlesque queen." The story goes that Belasco suggested a combination of the names of an English actress named Jane Stanwyck and the title character of the play, Jane Stanwyck was in: "Barbara Fritchie."

Christopher Walken was born March 31, 1943, in Queens, New York City, with the name Ronald Walken. His parents were German (Paul) and Scottish (Rosalie) immigrants, and they named him Ronald, after his father's middle name. They called him "Ronnie" growing up. Early in his acting career, he adopted the stage name Christopher after it was suggested by Belgian singer Monique van Vooren, who had a nightclub act in which Walken was a dancer. Walken never formally updated his birth certificate.

Married to Tom Hanks since 1988, Rita Wilson's real name is Margarita Ibrahimoff, born October 26, 1956, in Los Angeles, California. Her mother was Greek and her father Bulgarian, Rita was adopted by her stepfather and took his surname, Wilson, when she was a child. She chose "Rita", a shortening version of Margarita as her stage name.