Actors, singers, as well as writers and artists, often give up their unpronounceable names in favor of easier (or just more appealing) stage names or nom de plume. Here are the most famous pseudonyms in the world and the terrible names they conceal.
Woody Allen | Allan Stewart Königsberg |
Jennifer Aniston | Jennifer Anastassakis |
Dan Aykroyd | Daniel Edward Agraluscasacra |
Freddie Mercury | Farrokh Bulsara |
Kirk Douglas | Issur Danilovitch Demsky |
Vivien Leigh | Vivian Mary Hartleyù |
George Michael | Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou |
Stevie Wonder | Steveland Hardaway Judkins |
Charles Aznavour | Chahnourh Varinag Aznavourian |
Brigitte Bardot | Camille Javal |
Bo Derek | Mary Cathleen Collins |
Bob Dylan | Robert Allen Zimmerman |
Elton John | Reginald Kenneth Dwight |
Iggy Pop | James Newell Osterberg |
Stephen King | Richard Bachman |
Agatha Christie | Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller |
George Orwell | Eric Arthur Blair |
George Sand | Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin |
Marguerite Yourcenar | Marguerite de Crayencour |
Sophie Kinsella | Madeleine Sophie Wickham |
Fred Vargas | Frédérique Audoin-Rouzeau |
Eminem | Marshall Bruce Mathers III |
Sting | Gordon Matthew Sumner |
Moebius | Jean Giraud |
Hergé | Georges Remi |
Skin | Deborah Anne Dryer |
Neera | Anna Zuccari Radius |
Voltaire | François-Marie Arouet |
Molière | Jean-Baptiste Poquelin |
Elvis Costello | Declan Patrick McManus |
Tony Curtis | Bernard Schwartz |
Curzio Malaparte | Kurt Erich suckert |
Italo Svevo | Aron Hector Schmitz |
Rita Hayworth | Margarita Carmen Cansino |
Ashley Judd | Ashley Tyler Ciminella |
Dean Martin | Dino Paul Crocetti |
Anne Bancroft | Anna Maria Louise Italiano |
Demi Moore | Demetria Guynes |
Yves Montand | Ivo Livi |
Gae Aulenti | Gaetana Aulenti |
Lady Gaga | Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta |
Linus | Pasquale di Molfetta |