Brian Austin Green Reveals Real Name 40 Years After Changing It

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Brian Austin Green sure knows the power of a name.

I was so surprised to learn that Shannen Doherty’s co-star, Brian Austin Green, doesn’t even have Austin as his real middle name! Apparently, when he joined the Screen Actors Guild back in the ’80s, there was already another actor with the same name, so he just picked ‘Austin’ to stand out. It’s funny how these things happen in Hollywood, isn’t it?

Brian shared on the March 16th episode of the Pod Meets World podcast that his mom had a name picked out for him before he was born. However, because he was a large baby with broad shoulders, labor was difficult. His dad, who was a frequent marijuana user at the time, suggested naming him Brian while his mom was in labor.

The 52-year-old joked that his mom, after giving birth, simply said, “Just name him whatever you want, just get him out of me!” That was the only name his father came up with – just Brian Green, with no middle name or further consideration.

His parents had chosen the name Brian, but things shifted when he pursued further opportunities as an actor.

Brian Green recently learned that the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) required him to add a middle name because another actor with the same name was already a member. He explained that the union needs to be able to distinguish between members with identical names to properly process payments and manage records.

The father of five, who is engaged to Sharna Burgess, began searching for a middle name for his child, but it wasn’t easy. The actor from Knots Landing tried out many different names before finally settling on one he liked.

Brian Green’s parents had trouble finding a middle name that sounded good with his first name. They considered ‘Peter’ after his maternal grandfather, but that would have given him the initials B.P.G., and they decided that wasn’t ideal.

He joked that this decision could really make or break someone’s career. They considered a lot of different candidates, and ultimately, Austin seemed like the best fit.

Brian, who changed his life because of an actor he’s never met, used to feel angry towards him, but now he’s let go of those feelings.

No, I’ve never met him. I used to wish bad things would happen to him when I was younger, but I didn’t understand how awful that was to wish on anyone.

It seems Brian isn’t alone – many celebrities have changed their names! Here’s a look at some others who’ve adopted new stage names…

Congratulations to Post Malone! He actually added his family name to his stage name. But, he prefers his close friends to use his given name instead.

At the 2024 MTV VMAs, Taylor Swift called her co-winner “Austin” after they won the award for Best Collaboration for their song “Fortnight.”

Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, known for playing Lilly on Modern Family, now goes by Frances Anderson. She made this name change to reflect her new career as a musician.

In a 2025 interview with TopMob News, Aubrey explained that ‘Frances’ is actually her middle name, a tribute to a longtime friend of her mother. She also mentioned she chose it because it was shorter than her full, hyphenated last name, ‘Aubrey Anderson-Emmons’.

Dakota and Elle Fanning, the sisters, both decided to use their middle names when they began their careers in Hollywood.

Elle explained that since their mother used her middle name, the sisters decided it made sense for them to do the same.

She remembered feeling embarrassed during roll call at school. “They’d call ‘Mary?’ and the other kids would say there was no one by that name,” she told Glamour in 2016. “I’d have to awkwardly raise my hand and say, ‘It’s me.'”

The Summer House star shocked Bravo fans by revealing his legally given first name isn’t actually Carl.

In August 2025, Carl—who’s been on the reality show for all nine seasons—explained to PopViewers, “My ID and passport both say William, but I’ve always gone by Carl. It’s been that way since the beginning.”

Sterling K. Brown went by his middle name Kelby until he was a teenager.

During an April 2025 interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show, he explained that his father is Sterling Brown Jr. and his grandfather is Sterling Brown Sr. He decided he wanted a name of his own because ‘Sterling’ felt like a name for an older man.

Years after his father passed away from a heart attack, the actor—known for his role in This Is Us—chose to go back to using his original first name as a tribute to him.

My dad passed away when I was just ten, and honestly, by the time I was sixteen, it had been five or so years since anyone had even said his name. It was strange, but I really just wanted to hear it again, to feel connected to him. That’s why I started asking people to call me Sterling – it was a way of keeping his memory alive for me.

The winner of Traitors revealed on TopMob’s Hot Goss that his full name is Nicholas Dylan Harrison Efron, but he goes by Dylan. He explained that because Nicholas is his first name, everything else gets shifted down, making Harrison his middle name now.

Brothers Andrew, Matthew, and Joey Lawrence all decided to change their last names professionally. Joey, whose middle name is Lawrence, was the first to make the switch, after a talent agent pointed out the family surname wasn’t ideal.

Kat Dennings began using a professional name when she was nine years old, long before she appeared on an episode of Sex and the City in 2000.

Kat Dennings, known for her role on 2 Broke Girls, shared with Kylie Kelce on her podcast Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelce that she prefers not to have her full birth name publicly shown, like on a poster.

The actress chose her stage name by combining elements from two sources: the character Kat, played by Christina Ricci in the movie Casper, and the last name of Janine Denni, the French wife of Lloyd Alexander, the author of The Black Cauldron. She explained that Alexander was a close friend of her mother’s.

For over thirty years, Cher thought her full legal name was Cherilyn. However, when she requested her birth certificate in the late 1970s to legally change her name to simply Cher, she found out she was originally registered as Cheryl.

In her 2024 memoir, Cher: The Memoir, Part One, the singer Cher wrote about how her mother, Georgia Holt, reacted when she found out.

When she told her mother – who had her at 19 – about it, her mother replied, “Let me see!” Then, remembering her own experience after giving birth, she said, “I was just a teenager myself, and I was really hurting. Cut me some slack.”

The country artist known as Shaboozey got the nickname – and eventually his stage name – because of a misspelling of his last name by his high school in Virginia.

The singer first released music under her real name in 2001 with a Christian album. However, she decided to use the stage name Katy Perry—taken from her mother’s family name—believing it would be more appealing to pop music fans.

Cardi B got the nickname “Bacardi” because people started calling her sister Hennessy. She later shortened it to the name we know her by today.

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

Shania Twain revealed the story behind her stage name during a recent interview on Apple Music’s Home Now Radio. Born Eilleen Regina Edwards, she was later adopted and became Eilleen Regina Twain. When she started her singing career, she realized her name sounded too much like her grandmothers’, both named Eilleen and Regina. She didn’t want to be called by their name on stage, so she chose a new one. She met someone named Shania, loved the name, and Shania Twain was created.

Chappell Roan, the artist behind the song “Good Luck, Babe!,” has always approached performing as a form of drag, which helps her create clear boundaries between her stage presence and her private life, and protects her from the demands of the music industry.

Interestingly, Gigi Hadid didn’t choose her stage name herself! In school, her teacher kept mixing her up with a classmate named Helena. Because her mom always called her “Gigi” at home, she asked the teacher to just use that name to avoid confusion, and it ended up sticking.

If you’re looking for an explosive action-star name, how about Vin Diesel instead?

Miley Cyrus earned the nickname “Smiley” as a child because of her cheerful grin. Over time, the name was shortened to Miley, and that’s what everyone started calling her.

The singer resembled a Bruno more than a Peter, so his father began calling him Bruno, and that’s the name he’s known by today – Bruno Mars.

Before the meat dresses and chart-topping music, Lady Gaga was just an everyday girl from New York.

Jason Sudeikis revealed on the Today show that his father’s name was Daniel, and he was originally named after him. However, to avoid confusion with another Daniel in the family, his mother began calling him by his middle name, Jason.

Emma Stone chose to use a stage name because another actor was already registered with the Screen Actors Guild under her given name.

Interestingly, Reese Witherspoon’s first name isn’t actually her middle name! She was named after her mother’s family name, Reese.

Every artist has a different side to their public image, and for Lana Del Rey, that persona is the one she presents to the world.

In 2014, Frank Ocean legally changed his name because, why not? 

Many fans don’t realize that Tina Fey, the creator and star of 30 Rock, was actually born Elizabeth. She playfully honored her given name by naming her iconic character on the show, Liz Lemon.

This pioneer of West Coast rap would later go on to be known as Snoop Dogg.

It seems the singer known for “Royals” has a strong interest in nobility, which is why she chose the name Lorde, adding a feminine ‘e’ to the title.

Before becoming a world-famous singer, Ricky Martin was known by a different, more common name.

It’s hard to believe that Iggy Azalea was born Amethyst Kelly!

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2026-03-17 21:18