Unveiled: Meghan Markle’s True Identity Exposed… Discover the driving force behind her bold demeanor, confidence, and entrepreneurial spirit that sets her apart… Details Inside!

They may be household names now, but stars like Miley Cyrus, Meghan Markle, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Katy Perry and Emma Stone went by very different monikers before becoming famous.
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.

“For a 16-year-old, picking a new name is an interesting prospect, and back then I said, ‘I’m now going to be Riley Stone!'” Emma recalled in a 2017 interview with W Magazine. “So, for about six months I was called Riley. I landed a guest spot on Malcolm in the Middle, and one day they were calling, ‘Riley! Riley! Riley! We need you on set, Riley!’ and I had no idea who they were talking to.”

The Oscar winner eventually landed on the name Emma, but lately has made a push to reclaim the moniker close pals like Taylor Swift still use, the 14-time Grammy winner crediting her pal as Emily Jean Stone on the credits for her new track “Florida!!!”

She already responds to her birth name on set, recently telling The Hollywood Reporter, “I freaked out a couple of years ago. For some reason, I was like, ‘I can’t do it anymore. Just call me Emily.'”

And now she’s hoping to spread the word. “That would be so nice,” she said of reverting back. “I would like to be Emily.”

Of course, she’s not the only celebrity with a dual persona. Allow stars like Meghan Markle to Tom Cruise to reintroduce themselves.

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson

Though the singer initially released a Christian album under her birth name in 2001, she felt the stage name Katy Perry—inspired by her mom’s maiden name—might meet pop fans more in awe, awe, awe.

Belcalis Almanzar
Cardi B took on the name Bacardi after family and friends started calling her sister Hennessy. Later on she shortened the name to something that suited her quite a bit more.

Rachel Meghan Markle
Before she became the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle was briefly known as Rachel.

Eilleen Regina Edwards

Shania Twain shared the origin story of her stage name during an appearance on Apple Music’s Home Now Radio: “In short, I was born, Eilleen Regina Edwards, and then I was adopted and I became Eilleen Regina Twain. Then I became a professional singer and I needed a stage name that sounded a little less like my grandmother’s name, because I’m named after my grandmother, both my grandmothers, Eilleen and Regina. I think, in my mind, I was just not really wanting to be called my grandmother’s name onstage, so I decided to change it to Shania Twain. I met somebody with the name Shania, thought it was beautiful, and Shania Twain was born.”

Jelena Noura Hadid

Oddly enough, Gigi Hadid got her stage name in school when the teacher would confuse her and a girl named Helena. Since her mom called her “gigi” as a term of endearment at home, she told the teacher to just call her Gigi and it simply stuck.