Michael B. Jordan Almost Changed His Name Due to NBA’s Michael Jordan

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What’s in a name? Just ask Michael B. Jordan.

The actor from Sinners, who happens to share a name with Michael Jordan, has said it wasn’t easy growing up with the same name as such a famous athlete. He admitted that being constantly compared to the NBA legend led to bullying and became a significant issue for him as a child.

He shared with CBS Sunday Morning that the teasing he experienced was so intense, he nearly considered changing his name.

Okay, so you won’t BELIEVE this! Michael Jordan – yes, the Michael Jordan – was almost called Bakari! Can you even imagine?! Apparently, his parents named him after his dad, Michael A. Jordan, and Bakari means ‘noble promise’ which is SO cool. But he decided to stick with Michael anyway, and honestly, he says constantly being compared to the basketball legend actually shaped him into the person he is today! It’s like, all that pressure and expectation…it made him! I just…I can’t even handle how amazing that is.

He said it really sparked his drive to succeed. He wanted to excel at something – at that point in his life, mainly just to establish a sense of who he was as an individual.

Michael has consistently proven himself throughout his career, earning many awards, including a 2026 Golden Globe nomination for playing twin brothers in a popular horror film. He’s lived up to the high expectations set for him from the beginning.

He explained that his middle name is very meaningful to him and will remain so. He also emphasized that they have much more work ahead and are only at the beginning of their efforts.

I’m thrilled to see Michael enjoying the incredible momentum of Sinners right now! It’s doing so well, both with audiences in theaters and with the critics – a true sign of a hit!

He told TopMob News in December that despite being released earlier in the year, people were still enthusiastic about the film, repeatedly returning to theaters and experiencing it as if it were their first viewing.

“It feels great,” Michael added. “It feels good.”

Michael decided to keep his birth name, but many other celebrities have chosen different stage names. Here’s a look at what some stars were originally called…

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 her co-artist “Austin” after they won the award for Best Collaboration for their song “Fortnight.”

Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who played Lilly on Modern Family, now goes by Frances Anderson. She made the name change to signal a new chapter in her life 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 admitted she preferred it because it was shorter than her full, hyphenated last name, Aubrey Anderson-Emmons.

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 nine seasons on the reality show, in an August 2025 interview with PopViewers. “But I’ve always gone by Carl, ever 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 given first name as a tribute to him.

My dad passed away when I was just ten, and by the time I was sixteen, it had been five, maybe five and a half years, since I’d even heard his name. It was a strange feeling, but honestly, I just really wanted to hear it again. That’s why I started asking people to call me Sterling, his name.

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 shifts up a position, making Harrison his middle name now.

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

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 in 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 advertised, 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 wife of author Lloyd Alexander, who was a close friend of her mother.

I’ve been a huge Cher fan for years, and I was so surprised to learn about this! For over thirty years, she actually thought her full name was Cherilyn. It wasn’t until the late 70s, when she went to get her birth certificate to legally change her name to just ‘Cher,’ that she found out she was originally registered as ‘Cheryl.’ Can you believe it? She was living with the wrong first name for decades!

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

You know, my mom had me when she was just nineteen, and I remember when I brought up the realities of childbirth, her immediate reaction was, ‘Let me look at that!’ Then, she shared what it was really like for her. She was so young, barely more than a kid herself, and she was in a lot of pain. She just needed a little understanding, and honestly, who wouldn’t?

The country artist known as Shaboozey got the nickname after a simple mistake: his high school in Virginia misspelled his last name, and he ended up embracing it as his official stage name.

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 appeal more to pop music listeners.

Cardi B got the nickname “Bacardi” because her sister was playfully called “Hennessy” by those close to them. 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 during an 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 decided she needed a stage name that didn’t sound so much like her grandmothers, both of whom were named Eilleen and Regina. She didn’t want to perform under a name so closely associated with family, so she chose “Shania Twain” after meeting someone with the beautiful name Shania.

Chappell Roan, the singer behind ‘Good Luck, Babe!’, has always approached performing as a form of drag, which helps her create clear boundaries between her stage presence and her personal life, and keeps the two separate 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 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?

Miley Cyrus got her childhood nickname, Smiley, because of her cheerful smile. Over time, people started calling her Miley instead, and that’s the name she’s known by today.

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 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 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 people don’t realize that Tina Fey’s real name is Elizabeth. She playfully honored her birth name by giving her iconic character on 30 Rock, Liz Lemon, a similar name.

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 the famous singer Ricky Martin, he 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 a then-boyfriend named Adam during a speech, which prompted many to realize that Calvin Harris isn’t his real name. Harris later explained to Shortlist magazine that he chose the stage name because his first song had a soulful sound and he wanted a name that didn’t clearly define his ethnicity.

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2026-01-06 22:18