Nicolas Cage Explains Decision to Legally Change His Name

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Nicolas Cage made sure his chosen name would become a national treasure.

Nicolas Cage, originally named Nicolas Kim Coppola, explained the reason he chose to change his name professionally and eventually make it official.

When asked if it felt odd being known by his stage name for so many years, he told Variety that he actually legally changed his name last year. ‘I’m Nick Cage in life and on screen,’ he explained.

The actor known for his role in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and a member of the famous Coppola family, has made it clear he wants to be recognized for his own work and achievements, independent of his family name.

Honestly, hearing him say that just got me. It’s like, he realized it was better to build his own thing, be the head honcho of his world, than to always be on the sidelines of someone else’s success. And that’s when he decided, full force, to just be Cage. It was so powerful, you guys. He was owning it, declaring his destiny! I’ve been replaying that quote in my head ever since.

 

Nicolas explained that he chose his name by combining inspiration from two figures: the Marvel superhero Luke Cage and American composer John Cage.

I always thought ‘Cage’ was a cool name I’d seen in comics,” he said. “Growing up, my family was really into the arts, and we often talked about John Cage, the composer known for his experimental music.

You know, I was telling someone the other day how I really gravitate towards classic, impactful names. I was describing what I was after, and I said I wanted something like ‘James Dean’ – instantly recognizable, but concise and memorable. Basically, I was looking for something short and sweet, something that really sticks with you.

The actor, whose father was August Coppola, decided to keep his first name as is, though he admitted he wasn’t always a fan of its unusual spelling.

I decided to keep my first name, Nicolas, because it was given to me by my father. I’ve always been a little annoyed by the French spelling, though, since people keep adding an ‘h’ to it. I’m not sure why he chose that spelling, but he did.

The actor, known for his role in Face/Off, once shared that a specific event led him to decide he needed to change his name.

Early in his acting career, Nicolas Cage – then known as Nicolas Coppola – appeared in the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

The Oscar-winning actor found that people often linked him to his uncle, Francis Ford Coppola, and his famous movie Apocalypse Now. Fans would frequently mention the film when talking about him, unable to separate him from his family’s legacy.

It drove me absolutely crazy! Everywhere I went, people kept quoting Apocalypse Now, saying ‘I love the smell of Nicolas in the morning!’ They were totally messing up Robert Duvall’s famous line – it’s ‘napalm,’ people, napalm! It was getting so distracting, I just couldn’t deal with it anymore. I needed to fix this obsession, so I started saying ‘Cage’ instead. It felt so right, and finally, people were getting it (or at least, saying the right name!).

Nicolas Cage isn’t the only celebrity who’s gone by a different name! Keep reading to discover the birth names of some of your favorite stars.

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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 given 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 was his first name, everything else shifted up a position, 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 after a talent agent pointed out the family name wasn’t very memorable.

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 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 birth name publicly shown, like on a poster.

The actress chose her stage name by combining inspiration from two sources: Kat, the character Christina Ricci played 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 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 her daughter told her she was pregnant, her mother – who had given birth at 19 herself – exclaimed, “Let me see!” Then, remembering her own experience as a teen mom, she said, “I was so young, and it was really painful. Cut me some slack.”

The country artist known as Shaboozey got the nickname – and eventually his stage name – because his high school in Virginia mistakenly spelled his last name that way.

The singer first released music under her real name in 2001, but she thought the name Katy Perry—taken from her mother’s family name—would be more appealing to pop music listeners.

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.

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Let me tell you how my stage name, Shania Twain, came to be! I was actually born Eilleen Regina Edwards, and later became Eilleen Regina Twain after being adopted. When I started singing professionally, I realized my given name sounded a little too much like my grandmothers’ – I’m named after both of them, Eilleen and Regina! I just didn’t want to be called their name onstage, so I needed something different. I met someone named Shania and instantly fell in love with the name. It just felt right, so Shania Twain was born! It’s a little piece of my history and a name I’m so proud to carry.

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Jason Sudeikis revealed on the Today show that his given first name is Daniel, after his father. However, to avoid confusion with another family member, 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.

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.

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

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2026-05-28 21:48