Kat Dennings' Real Name Will Shock You!

Here’s a fun fact about Kat Dennings: That is not the actress’ birth name.

The Shifting Gears sitcom actress reflected on choosing her stage name years at a young age—several years before she made her onscreen acting debut.

“I chose it when I was 9,” Kat told Kylie Kelce on the March 13 episode of her podcast Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelce. “Because my real last name is Litwack. That’s all you need to hear. And at 9, I was like, ‘This isn’t going to work for me. This is not going to work. I can’t see that name. She, slash I, was very ahead of her time.”

38-year-old actress, who had previously appeared in commercials, expressed reservations when she first landed her role on a 2000 episode of Sex and the City, saying, “I thought, ‘This can’t be advertised on a billboard. It shouldn’t happen.’

When deciding her stage name, Kat drew inspiration from Janine Denni, the French wife of late The Black Cauldron author Lloyd Alexander, a writer she said was her mother’s best friend.

“I went there every week until I was 15 years old. They were like my grandparents,” the 2 Broke Girls alum said. “I thought it would be a super sick idea if I took her name and made it like, kind of different. So Dennings is from her.”

The Thor star, whose full real name is Katherine, also drew inspiration from a fellow actress’ movie character when choosing her stage name.

“Kat, I chose, because Christina Ricci‘s character Kat in the movie Casper was my favorite character at the time,” she said, “So I was like, ‘OK, Kat Dennings, this is it. I can really picture it.”

Kat has discussed her choice of stage name previously. She stated, “I chose not to use my family name as I found it somewhat unattractive, and I wanted to distinguish between those who truly knew me and those who did not,” she told Philadelphia magazine in 2008. “As a youngster, I was quite advanced.

The actress added that while Litwack is a “sturdy Polish-Jewish name,” she “used to be really touchy about it.” She added, “But I couldn’t care less now.”

Read on to find out the real names of more celebs…

Kat Dennings adopted a stage name at age 9, years before she made her official onstage acting debut on a 2000 episode of Sex and the City.

The 2 Broke Girls alum told Kylie Kelce on the March 13, 2025 episode of her podcast Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelce that she didn’t think her real name name should “be displayed on a poster.”

The actress drew inspiration for her stage name from Christina Ricci‘s character Kat in the film Casper as well as the surname of Janine Denni, the French wife of late The Black Cauldron author Lloyd Alexander, a writer she said was her mother’s best friend.

For more than three decades, Cher was made to believe that her legal first name was Cherilyn. It wasn’t until the late ’70s, when she obtained her birth certificate in order to change her full name to just Cher, that she discovered that she had been registered as “Cheryl.”

In her 2024 memoir, Cher: The Memoir, Part One, the pop icon recalled her mom Georgia Holt‘s reaction to this discovery.

She remarked that when her mother, who had her at the young age of 19, reacted with, “Let me take a look at that!”, she reflected back on her postpartum period and said, “I was just a teenager, and I experienced a lot of pain. Cut me some slack.

The country musician’s true name is Collins Obinna Chibueze, but he’s better known by the nickname Shaboozey. He adopted this alias after his high school in Virginia misspelled his surname and it stuck with him as he began his music career.

Kudos to Post Malone, who added his last name to create his stage name. Interestingly, this hip-hop artist prefers his closest companions to address him using his genuine name instead.

During the 2024 MTV VMAs, Taylor Swift referred to him as “Austin” when they won the Best Collaboration award for their duet “Fortnight.”

After releasing her debut Christian album under her birth name in 2001, she later adopted the stage name Katy Perry, a moniker inspired by her mother’s maiden name, as she believed it would resonate better with pop music fans.

Cardi B took on the name Bacardi after family and friends started calling her sister Hennessy. Later on she shortened the name to something that suited her quite a bit more.

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

Shania Twain shared the origin story of her stage name during an appearance on Apple Music’s Home Now Radio: “In short, I was born, Eilleen Regina Edwards, and then I was adopted and I became Eilleen Regina Twain. Then I became a professional singer and I needed a stage name that sounded a little less like my grandmother’s name, because I’m named after my grandmother, both my grandmothers, Eilleen and Regina. I think, in my mind, I was just not really wanting to be called my grandmother’s name onstage, so I decided to change it to Shania Twain. I met somebody with the name Shania, thought it was beautiful, and Shania Twain was born.”

The “Good Luck, Babe!” singer’s onstage persona—Chappell Roan—has always been a “drag project,” allowing her to set boundaries and separate her personal life from the industry.

Interestingly, the model we know as Gigi Hadid received her stage name in school due to a mix-up between her and another girl named Helena. Since her mother affectionately called her “gigi” at home, she suggested the teacher address her by that nickname instead. It eventually became her professional moniker and has remained so ever since.

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

Growing up, I was affectionately known as “Smiley” due to my radiant grin. Over time, people started calling me simply “Miley,” a nickname that eventually became my official name and has stayed with me ever since.

Apparently the singer looked more like a Bruno than a Peter, so one day his dad started calling him Bruno. Ever since, he has been known as Bruno Mars.

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

It was revealed on Today that Jason Sudeikis was actually named after his dad, Daniel. However, due to some mix-up, his mother began referring to him by his middle name, Jason, to prevent confusion.

Emma Stone ended adopting this stage name after finding out that the Screen Actors Guild already had a member registered under her birthname.

It turns out that Reese Witherspoon’s actual middle name isn’t “Reese.” Instead, she named herself after her mother, whose maiden name was also Reese.

Each artist typically possesses a secret identity, and Lana Del Rey is the character that this particular singer prefers to embody.

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

Did you know that the hilarious Tina Fey, who stole our hearts in 30 Rock, goes by Elizabeth off-screen? She subtly paid homage to her real name by naming her iconic character Liz Lemon. It’s a fun little detail that adds depth to both characters and shows how deeply connected they really are!

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

Turns out the “Royals” singer is really into learning about the aristocracy, hence the reason why she chose the name Lorde, but with a feminine ‘e.’

Before he started shaking his bonbon for the masses, music superstar Ricky Martin went by this everyday name.

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

Fans were confused when Taylor Swift thanked then-boyfriend Adam in an acceptance speech, which lead people to the discovery that Calvin Harris is simply a stage name. The DJ told Shortlist magazine he chose the name because his first single was more soulful and wanted something a bit more “racially ambiguous.”

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

Alicia Keys didn’t always have such a musical name.

Before he became arguably the biggest movie star in the world, Tom Cruise went by this name.

Back when she was born in 1980, this was how the future bigtime actress Natalie Portman greeted the world.

Before she became a big-time TV star and married Ellen DeGeneres, this was the name Portia de Rossi answered to.

2025-03-15 23:52

Kat Dennings’ Real Name Will Shock You!

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