13 Celebrities Who Changed Their Name More Than Once

Some people are just destined for stardom -- but sometimes, their name doesn’t quite fit the bill. Not everyone is given a name that’s meant for an album cover or a movie poster, which is why some aspiring stars choose a stage name before making it big. But figuring out a memorable moniker isn’t easy. It can take time and a little tweaking and occasionally these celebs will go through a few names before they find the perfect fit. And sometimes they’re still making changes, even in the middle of their careers! Find out why these celebs changed their names so many times… 1. Rachel Weisz Before Rachel Weisz made it big, she played around with several different professional names. At first she considered changing the spelling of her last name to Vyce but her agent thought it sounded like a porn star, so she never ended up using it. Then, she briefly went by the name Kenya Campbell before eventually returning to her given name. “My agent said [Rachel Vyce] seemed like a porn star name, so he didn’t let me do it but I actually think I would have had a much better career had I had that name. I feel that deep in my heart,” she shared back in 2012. She continued, “[I did use] Kenya Campbell once. It was an homage to an English actor that passed away. His name was Ken Campbell, who I loved very much. So I was Kenya Campbell for a TV show that I didn’t want to have my name on, because it was a really crappy TV show.” 2. Cheryl When British singer Cheryl first joined Girls Aloud, she was known by her given name, Cheryl Tweedy. After marrying soccer player Ashley Cole, she decided to take his last name and publicly became known as Cheryl Cole. But when they split years later, she kept the name for some time before ultimately deciding to simply go by her first name. She is now just known as Cheryl. “Cheryl has been using her first name professionally for some time now and will continue to do so,” her rep said in a statement in 2017. 3. JAY-Z Jay Z was born Shawn Carter but before he became famous, he adopted his iconic stage name. Derived from his nickname Jazzy and as an homage to his mentor Jaz-O, the rapper became known as Jaÿ-Z. Not long after, he got rid of the umlaut above the y -- while deciding to keep the hyphen. But in 2013, he completely dropped the hyphen from his name, officially making his stage moniker Jay Z. When asked about the change, Jay said he’d been phasing out the hyphen for years. “That was like three years ago, I don’t know how that story resurfaced, but I guess it was a slow news day,” he said on Big Boy’s Neighborhood. “The hyphen was really big back in the day. It’s not useful anymore. I had umlauts over one of the letters; I removed that too.” Then in 2017, he brought the hyphen back and changed his name to be stylized in all caps, thus making his name JAY-Z. 4. Diddy Throughout his career, Diddy has gone through numerous name changes. Born Sean John Combs, he picked up the stage name Puff Daddy earlier in his career. In 2001, he shortened it to P. Diddy and then a few years later, he abbreviated it again to just Diddy. In 2017, he made the biggest change yet, announcing he would be known as Brother Love. “I decided to change my name again. I’m just not who I am before. I’m someone different. So my new name is Love AKA Brother Love. I will not be answering to Puffy, Diddy, Puffy Daddy or any of my other monkiers but Love or Brother Love,” he said in a video on social media. While the rapper has continued to use the new name, he is still widely referred to as Diddy. 5. Lana Del Rey Lana Del Rey was born Elizabeth Grant but early in her career, she released music under the name May Jailer. Then in 2008, she dropped her debut album as Lizzy Grant. By 2011, she had finally settled on the name Lana Del Rey. “I wanted a name I could shape the music towards. I was going to Miami quite a lot at the time, speaking a lot of Spanish with my friends from Cuba -- Lana Del Rey reminded us of the glamor of the seaside. It sounded gorgeous coming off the tip of the tongue,” she told Vogue. 6. Lisa Bonet Early in Lisa Bonet’s career, she was credited under the name Lisa Boney. She eventually started using the name Lisa Bonet but in 1993, after her divorce from Lenny Kravitz, she legally changed her name to Lilakoi Moon. She reportedly did so to “protect her privacy.” Through the years, she’s privately kept the name Lilakoi but has continued to use the name Lisa Bonet in public. 7. RM BTS member RM was born Kim Namjoon but upon joining the group, he started going by the name Rap Monster. In 2017, he changed his name again to officially go by RM because he felt that Rap Monster didn’t reflect the music he wanted to create. “I’ve become keenly aware of the fact that it’s become different from [what I want] to put at the fro