Emma Stone Reveals the Stage Name She Almost Went By

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A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, but Emma Stone couldn’t go by just anything. 

A year after revealing she prefers to be called by her given name, Emily Stone, the actress formerly known as Bugonia shared that she didn’t initially intend to use her professional name permanently.

Emma recently shared that when she was 16, she briefly used a stage name. She explained on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that the Screen Actors Guild only allows one person to register with a specific name, and she wanted to go by ‘Riley.’ So, for about six months, she was professionally known as Riley Stone.

I always thought her original name was lovely, but apparently, a really uncomfortable experience led her to choose the name she uses now. It’s fascinating how things like that can change a person’s path!

She remembered being on an episode of Malcolm in the Middle and being repeatedly called “Riley” by the crew. She was completely confused because she didn’t know anyone on set with that name. It was so unexpected that she just decided to go with it and pretended to be Riley.

But ultimately, Emma just didn’t see herself as a ‘Riley.’ 

“So I then changed it to ‘Emma,’” she explained, “because it’s close enough to ‘Emily.’”

Emma first appeared on screen as “Riley Stone” in a guest role on the show Medium, which starred Patricia Arquette. She then began using her current stage name, which was credited in a 2005 episode of a sitcom.

Actually, Emma doesn’t mind nicknames at all – she just isn’t able to bring herself to respond when someone calls her ‘Riley’.

She shared on Today in 2024 that she’s always gone by Emily. ‘It doesn’t matter what you call me,’ she said, ‘feel free to even make up a name!’

However, Emma confessed that she overall does have partial preference for her birth name. 

“I would like to be Emily,” she told The Hollywood Reporter that same year. “That would be so nice.”

For more stars’ real names, keep reading… 

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 when they address him.

At the 2024 MTV VMAs, Taylor Swift called Post Malone “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 as she pursues a career in music.

In a 2025 interview with TopMob News, Aubrey explained that ‘Frances’ is actually her middle name, given in honor of a longtime friend of her mother. She also admitted she liked that it was shorter than her full name, ‘Aubrey Anderson-Emmons,’ which is quite a mouthful.

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

Carl, a nine-season veteran of the reality show, explained to PopViewers in August 2025 that his first name is William and his middle name is Carl. However, he’s always been known simply as Carl.

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

During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show in April 2025, he explained that his father is named Sterling Brown Jr. and his grandfather is Sterling Brown Sr. He shared that he wanted to establish his own identity and felt the name Sterling sounded too old for him.

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.

He explained that after his father died when he was ten, he hadn’t heard anyone say his father’s name in over five years. By the time he was sixteen, he simply wanted to hear the name again, so he asked people to refer to him as Sterling.

Andrew, Matthew, and Joey Lawrence all decided to use a different last name professionally. Joey, whose middle name is also Lawrence, was the first to make the change after a talent agent suggested their family name wasn’t ideal.

Kat Dennings started using a professional name when she was just 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, explained to Kylie Kelce on her podcast, Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelce, that she prefers not to have her birth name publicly visible, like on a poster.

The actress chose her stage name by combining inspiration from two sources: Kat, the character 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 Lloyd 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 was surprised to find 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 said, “Let me see!” Then, remembering her own experience after giving birth, she added, “I was just a teenager myself, and it was really painful. Cut me some slack.”

I’ve been following Shaboozey for a while now, and it’s a really interesting story how he got his name! Apparently, when he was in high school in Virginia, they misspelled his last name, and ‘Shaboozey’ stuck. He liked it so much, he actually started using it as his stage name – it’s become his official alias as an artist. It’s just a cool piece of trivia that shows how something unexpected can become a defining part of who you are.

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—because she thought it would be more appealing to pop music fans.

Cardi B got the nickname ‘Bacardi’ because her sister was playfully called ‘Hennessy’ by friends and family. She later decided ‘Cardi’ was a better fit for her.

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

Shania Twain recently revealed how she got her stage name while on Apple Music’s Home Now Radio. She was originally born Eilleen Regina Edwards, and later became Eilleen Regina Twain after being adopted. When she started singing professionally, she realized her name sounded too much like her grandmothers’, both of whom were named Eilleen and Regina. She didn’t want to perform under their name, so she chose ‘Shania Twain’ – a name she’d once heard and admired – as her stage name.

Chappell Roan, the singer behind ‘Good Luck, Babe!’, has always approached performing as a ‘drag project.’ This helps her create clear boundaries between her stage presence and her private life, and protects her from the pressures of the music industry.

You know, it’s funny how nicknames come about! I learned that Gigi Hadid actually got her name back in school. Her teacher kept mixing her up with another student named Helena, so Gigi – who her mom always called ‘gigi’ at home – asked the teacher to just call her Gigi to avoid confusion. And the name just…stuck! It’s a sweet story, and a perfect example of how something simple can become iconic.

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

I’ve always loved Miley Cyrus, and I remember learning that she actually earned the nickname ‘Smiley’ as a little girl because she was always beaming! It’s so cute – eventually, everyone just started calling her Miley, and the rest is history. It really fits her personality, don’t you think?

The singer resembled a Bruno more than a Peter, so his father began calling him Bruno, and that’s the name he’s been known as ever since – 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 her stage name because someone else was already registered with the Screen Actors Guild under her real name.

It’s surprising to learn that Reese isn’t actually Reese Witherspoon’s middle name! She adopted it as a tribute to her mother, whose family name is 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? 

Okay, so this is amazing and you probably don’t know this, but Tina Fey – yes, the Tina Fey – isn’t actually named Tina! Her real name is Elizabeth! Isn’t that wild? And get this – she totally paid homage to her birth name by naming her character on 30 Rock, Liz Lemon! I mean, it’s not exactly a secret, but it’s one of those little details that just makes me love her even more. It’s brilliant, honestly.

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 decided on the name Lorde, but added a feminine ‘e’ to it.

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!

Fans were surprised when Taylor Swift publicly thanked her boyfriend, Adam, during a speech, which then led to the realization that Calvin Harris isn’t his real name. Harris explained to Shortlist magazine that he chose the name because his first song was more soulful and he wanted a name that didn’t immediately reveal his background.

Before she became a household name, this was what erstwhile Friend Jennifer Aniston answered to.

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2025-10-23 18:21