What’s in a name? A lot, according to these stars.
After all, a unique moniker sticks in the mind better than a catchy jingle. Take Miley Cyrus, who was born Destiny Hope Cyrus but adopted a stage name based on her childhood nickname “Smiley” when she started acting in Hannah Montana. Fast forward to 2008, the singer legally changed her full name to Miley Ray Cyrus, with her new middle name serving as a nod to both her dad Billy Ray Cyrus and grandfather Ronald Ray Cyrus.
“A lot of people say Miley changed her name to Miley Ray because of Billy Ray, but that’s not true,” Billy Ray told CNN in 2009. “She did that in honor of my dad, because the two of them just loved each other to pieces.”
In other cases, celebs simply changed their names to avoid confusion. For instance, Jason Sudeikis‘ mom started calling him by his middle name instead since both he and his dad share the first name Daniel, while Emma Stone had to register in the Screen Actors Guild with a moniker different from her birthname because there was already an Emily Stone in the system.