I think “Keaton” is a popular stage name!
Some people who work in the entertainment industry choose stage names. However, others use a stage name because it’s more of a requirement than an option since someone else is already working under the same name.
Here are 14 actors and musicians who had to change their stage names because someone else was already using theirs:
1.
When Diane Hall signed up for her Actors’ Equity card, there was already a Diane Hall, so she went through a few options – Dorrie Hall (her sister’s name), then Corry Hall, and finally Diane Keaton (her mother’s maiden name) .
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In her autobiography Then Again, she wrote: “It dawned on me that I could keep it all in the family by using Mom’s maiden name: Keaton. Diane Keaton.”
2.
Because of the Fatal Attraction actor, the union let Michael Douglas choose a stage name. After reviewing “K” names, he decided Michael Keaton was “good enough.”
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Speaking on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, he said: “I’m trying to get my name back on track because I’m proud of my name. I’ll go somewhere and there will be a driver with a sign that says Michael Douglas and then I’ll show up. You look so confused!”
3.
The Weeknd had to drop the “e” from his stage name because of copyright issues with a Canadian band called The Weekend.
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His real name is Abel Tesfaye.
4.
At first, David Jones assumed Davie Jones, but he changed his stage name to Tom Jones because of Davy Jones from The Monkees. However, there was already a Tom Jones singer, so he chose the legendary David Bowie.
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His other stage persona, Ziggy Stardust, was inspired by “American street culture”.
5.
With her real name already taken at SAG, Emily Stone registered as Riley Stone. However, six months later, she went back and changed it to Emma Stone.
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6.
Due to an Actors’ Union regulation, 16-year-old David McDonald had to choose a stage name, so he flipped through a music magazine before deciding on David Tennant – inspired by Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys.
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Speaking on The Late Late Show with James Corden, he said, “At 16 I didn’t know any actors, I didn’t know how to choose a name… I was just flipping through a magazine and I was like, ‘What should I call myself?'”
7.
William H. Macy goes by his full name so people don’t confuse him with the late actor Bill Macy.
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His middle initial stands for Hall.
8th.
At first, Michael B. Jordan considered breaking up with Michael Bakari (his middle name) to break up with the famous basketball player with whom he shares a name, but he ultimately chose to keep his real name and his middle name add initial.
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He told the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, “Ever since I was a kid being bullied on the basketball court…I wanted to switch to Michael Bakari…For about two seconds of weakness I had that thought and then I just held it, and owned it .”
9.
Due to the Lost actor of the same name, Elizabeth Mitchell decided to perform under the name Elizabeth Banks.
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She wanted a one-syllable last name, so she made a list, sorted it alphabetically, and then chose the first option on the list.
10
When 18-year-old Patricia Neal joined Actors’ Equity, her name was already being used by the The Day the Earth Stood Still actor. She only had an hour to choose her new stage name and called her grandpa, who told her, “Honey, I remember a lot of comedians named Fannie coming through vaudeville, so maybe that would be a lucky name for her.” You.” Then her friend suggested the full name Fannie Flagg, after her friend’s grandmother.
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Flagg told the Sacramento Bee, “So I made that choice and never dreamed I would get stuck with that.”
11.
FKA Twigs added the acronym for “formerly known as” to their stage name because another artist named Twigs asked them to change it.
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Her real name is Tahliah Barnett.
12.
Since her name was already being used by the Duel in the Sun actor, Jennifer Jones changed her name to Gemma Jones after the female lead in her father’s film Escape Me Never.
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In Escape Me Never (1935), Griffith Jones played Caryle Sanger and Elisabeth Bergner played Gemma Jones.
13.
Katheryn Hudson released two gospel albums under her real name, but when she signed to Capitol Records as a pop artist in 2007, she chose Katy Perry so people wouldn’t confuse her with actress Kate Hudson.
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Perry is her mother’s maiden name.
14
Finally, despite registering with SAG as Vanessa L. Williams to avoid such issues early in her career, several newspapers mistook former Miss America actress Vanessa Williams for New Jack City actress Vanessa Williams.
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New Jack City’s Vanessa Williams told Entertainment Weekly that she didn’t see a problem with that because “there’s enough work for both of us.”
The confusion actually started before they became famous. In the ’80s, they applied to NYU for the same musical theater program.
However, things got even more confusing when Vanessa L. Williams starred in the TV show version of Soul Food and Vanessa Estelle Williams starred in the film version of Soul Food. As a result, SAG decided that since both women had built careers under the Vanessa Williams name, they could both be credited simply as Vanessa Williams.
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