Chris Pratt Reveals Surprising Stage Name He Almost Went By

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Chris Pratt almost wasn’t his name.

The star of Mercy shared that while his birth name is Christopher Michael Pratt, he once considered using a different name when he first started pursuing a career in Hollywood.

You won’t believe this story! I was chatting with someone recently, and they told me about their early job at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. They were supposed to be called ‘Christopher’ on their name tag, but somehow the letters ‘P-H-E-R’ rubbed off! Can you imagine? For a long time after that, everyone just called them ‘Christo’! It’s one of those funny little life moments that sticks with you, right?

You know, when I was starting out, working at Bubba Gump, we had a lot of new faces coming and going. It was so constant, actually, that people often got my name wrong! I remember so many new hires thinking I went by ‘Christo’ – it was pretty funny looking back on it.

Although the nickname became popular with service workers, the Guardians of the Galaxy actor said it didn’t really take off among people in the film industry.

He explained that when he was first discovered and moved to Los Angeles to pursue his ambitions, he seriously considered going by the name ‘Christo’ instead of his full name.

While he ultimately stuck with Chris Pratt, he joked, “it’s never too late.” 

Chris often gets mistaken for other famous actors named Chris—like Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and Chris Pine—as he recently shared with Josh that someone on his current press tour actually called him Chris Pine.

“I don’t think they mistake me,” he shared, before adding, “I think…just the alliteration.”

Chris Pratt, who has a 13-year-old son named Jack with his ex-wife Anna Faris, and three younger children – Lyla (5), Eloise (3), and Ford (14 months) – with his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger, isn’t upset about being mistaken for other actors named Chris. However, he does disagree with the idea that AI artists, like Tilly Norwood, could replace him in movies.

Chris recently told Variety at the premiere of Mercy that he isn’t worried about being replaced by AI. He dismissed reports about actress Tilly Norwood, calling them “bullst” and stating he’s never even seen her in a movie and doesn’t know who she is.

He added, “You know, it’s all fake until it’s something.” 

Although Chris eventually used his birth name, it’s common for celebrities to change or modify their names. Curious about what some stars were originally called? Read on to find out…

Congratulations to Post Malone! He chose to include his last name in his stage name, but he actually prefers his friends to call him by his first name.

At the 2024 MTV VMAs, Taylor Swift called Post Malone “Austin” when their song “Fortnight” won the award for Best Collaboration.

As a lifestyle expert, I’ve always admired artists who reinvent themselves, and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons is a perfect example! You probably know her as Lilly from Modern Family, but she’s now performing music under a new name – Frances Anderson. It’s a beautiful way to signal a fresh start and a new chapter in her creative journey.

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 added that she preferred 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 would be fitting for them to do the same.

She remembered feeling embarrassed during roll call at school. “They’d call ‘Mary?’ and kids would say there wasn’t a Mary here,” 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.

“My driver’s license and passport both say William,” explained Carl, a veteran of all nine seasons of the reality show, in an August 2025 interview with PopViewers. “But I’ve always gone by Carl – it’s what I’ve been called 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 named Sterling Brown Jr. and his grandfather is Sterling Brown Sr. He said he wanted to establish his own identity and felt the name Sterling sounded too old for him.

Years after his father’s death 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.

He explained that because his father died when he was ten, and he hadn’t heard anyone say his father’s name in over five years by the time he turned sixteen, he started asking people to call him by that name – Sterling.

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.

Andrew, Matthew, and Joey Lawrence all decided to change their last names professionally. Joey, whose middle name is also Lawrence, was the first to make the switch, prompted by feedback from a talent agent who didn’t like their family surname.

Kat Dennings started 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 from 2 Broke Girls, shared on the March 13, 2025 episode of Kylie Kelce’s podcast, Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelce, that she prefers not to have her birth name publicly shown, like on a poster.

The actress chose her stage name by combining inspiration 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. But 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 exclaimed, “Let me see!” Then, remembering her own experience after giving birth, she said, “I was just a teenager myself, and I was in so much pain. Cut me some slack.”

The country artist known as Shaboozey got his nickname – and later his stage name – because of a misspelling of his last name on his high school records in Virginia.

The singer first released music under her real name in 2001, but she decided to use the stage name Katy Perry—taken from her mother’s family name—hoping it would appeal more to pop music listeners.

Cardi B got the nickname “Bacardi” because her sister was playfully called “Hennessy” by friends and family. She eventually shortened it to the name we know today, which felt more fitting for her.

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

As a lifestyle expert, I’m always fascinated by how people create their public personas, and Shania Twain recently shared the story behind her iconic stage name! She was originally born Eilleen Regina Edwards, and later became Eilleen Regina Twain through adoption. When she started her singing career, she realized her given name sounded a little too much like her grandmothers’ – she’s named after both Eilleen and Regina! She just didn’t want to be called by their names on stage, so she decided a change was in order. She met someone named Shania, loved the sound of it, and voila – Shania Twain was born! It’s a great reminder that crafting your identity is a really personal process.

Okay, so Chappell Roan isn’t just a stage name, it’s everything. It’s always been her way of creating a character, a total drag persona, and honestly, it’s brilliant. It lets her control what people see, keep her real self private, and just…exist without the industry trying to swallow her whole. It’s like, Chappell Roan is the artist, but it’s also how she protects herself, you know? It’s not just a performance, it’s a boundary.

Interestingly, Gigi Hadid didn’t choose her stage name – it came about 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 refer to her as Gigi, and the nickname ended up sticking.

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

You know, I always love a good story behind a nickname! With Miley Cyrus, it’s actually quite sweet. She was such a happy, cheerful little girl that everyone started calling her ‘Smiley’ because of her bright, infectious smile. Eventually, ‘Smiley’ just naturally shortened to ‘Miley,’ and the rest, as they say, is history! It’s a perfect example of how a personality can really define a name.

The singer resembled a Bruno more than a Peter, so his father began calling him Bruno. He’s been known as Bruno Mars ever since.

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 given first name is Daniel, but his mother began calling him Jason—his middle name—to prevent confusion with his father, who shared the same first name.

Emma Stone chose her stage name because someone else was already registered with the Screen Actors Guild under her real name.

Interestingly, Reese Witherspoon’s first name isn’t actually her middle name. She adopted ‘Reese’ to pay tribute to her mother, whose family name it was.

Every artist creates a different public image, and for Lana Del Rey, that image is simply herself – she embodies the persona she performs as.

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.

I recently discovered something fascinating about Lorde! Apparently, she’s always been captivated by nobility and that’s actually why she chose her stage name. She took the title ‘Lord’ and simply feminized it by adding an ‘e’ – creating ‘Lorde’! It’s such a cool detail that really speaks to her artistic vision.

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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2026-01-22 23:49