Why Emma Stone Changed Name When She Joined the Screen Actors Guild

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She has always been an actor, but she hasn’t always been Emma Stone. 

Despite being a Hollywood veteran with over 20 years of experience, and currently nominated for an award from SAG-AFTRA for her work in a film by Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone recently shared that she isn’t universally recognized in Los Angeles.

Actually, Emma’s birth name is Emily Stone. She had to change it when she got her SAG card at 16.

Emma shared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that when she was sixteen, she briefly used a stage name. For about six months, she went by Riley Stone.

And so, Emma, who is Emily, became Riley—but she quickly realized that was a bit confusing. 

She remembered being a guest star on Malcolm in the Middle, mentioning her 2006 appearance on the Frankie Muniz sitcom. “They kept calling ‘Riley!’ and I was completely confused about who they meant,” she said.

As she put it, “So I was like, ‘I cannot be Riley.’ It came out of nowhere.”

Ultimately, she decided ‘Emma’ was the better alternative, noting, “It’s close enough to Emily.”

Emma wasn’t actively concealing her pen name, but it wasn’t widely known until 2024, when she revealed she goes by Emily with her work friends.

In a 2024 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she confessed she had a moment of panic a couple of years prior. ‘I suddenly felt like I couldn’t handle things anymore,’ she explained, ‘and just wanted to be known as Emily again.’

Of course, Emma is also OK with the name she chose for herself. 

During an interview on Today in 2024, she stated that people could call her anything they pleased, even a made-up name.

I’ve always been fascinated by celebrity secrets, and it turns out Emma isn’t alone! So many stars actually use different names than the ones they were born with. I’m really excited to find out what other surprising names these famous people go by…

Congratulations to Post Malone! He actually chose to include his family name as part of his stage name. But despite his fame, he prefers his close friends to call him by his given name.

At the 2024 MTV VMAs, Taylor Swift called Post Malone “Austin” while accepting 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 reflect her new focus on a music career.

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 mentioned she shortened her name because ‘Aubrey Anderson-Emmons’ is quite long and hyphenated.

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 to follow suit.

Oh my gosh, it was SO embarrassing! She told Glamour about it a few years ago, and I just lived for the story. Apparently, at school roll call, they’d call ‘Mary?’ and everyone would be like, ‘Huh? There’s no Mary here!’ And she’d have to awkwardly raise her hand and be all, ‘Um, it’s me…’ I can’t even imagine! It’s just… iconic, honestly.

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 my middle name is actually Carl, and I’ve gone by Carl since the very 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 said he decided to go by a different name because ‘Sterling’ felt like a name for an older man and he wanted something that felt more his own.

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 start calling him 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 shifts up – making Harrison his middle name now.

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

Oh my gosh, can you believe it? Kat Dennings – my absolute favorite! – she actually started going by a stage name when she was just nine years old! It was years before anyone even saw her on TV! Like, she was a tiny little star in the making, and then she finally made her debut on Sex and the City back in 2000! I’ve seen that episode a million times, but knowing that backstory just makes it even more amazing!

Kat Dennings, known for her role on 2 Broke Girls, told Kylie Kelce on her podcast Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelce that she prefers not to have her full name publicly displayed, like on a poster.

I’ve always been fascinated by how celebrities choose their names, and I recently learned the story behind hers! She actually took inspiration from two sources. First, she loved the character Kat played by Christina Ricci in Casper. And secondly, she used the last name of Janine Denni, who was the wife of Lloyd Alexander, the author of The Black Cauldron. Apparently, my favorite actress’s mother was very close friends with Lloyd Alexander, which made the connection even more special!

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 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 – what happened, her mother said, “Let me see!” Then, remembering her own experience after giving birth, she added, “I was just a teenager myself, and I was really hurting. Cut me some slack.”

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—believing 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 she felt was a better fit.

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

Shania Twain revealed the story behind her stage name during a recent interview on Apple Music’s Home Now Radio. Born Eilleen Regina Edwards, she was later adopted and became Eilleen Regina Twain. When she started singing professionally, she needed a stage name that didn’t sound so much like her grandmothers – she’s named after both Eilleen and Regina! She didn’t want to perform under a name so closely tied to her family, so she chose “Shania Twain.” She had met someone named Shania and loved the name, and that’s how her stage name was born.

Chappell Roan, the artist behind the song “Good Luck, Babe!,” has always approached performing as a distinct character – a ‘drag project’ – which helps her maintain personal boundaries and keep her private life separate from her career.

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 name stuck!

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

Miley Cyrus got her adorable nickname, Smiley, because she was always smiling as a child. Over time, people started calling her Miley instead, and that’s the name everyone remembers her by.

The singer resembled a Bruno more than a Peter, so his father began calling him Bruno, and the name stuck. That’s how he became known as 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 given first name is actually Daniel, after his father. However, his mother began calling him by his middle name, Jason, to prevent confusion with someone else.

Emma Stone chose to use a stage name because another actress 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 creates a different public image, and for Lana Del Rey, that image is simply herself.

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

Many fans don’t realize that Tina Fey, the creator of 30 Rock, was actually born Elizabeth. She playfully honored her given name by naming her character on the show Liz Lemon.

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 fascination with nobility. That’s why she chose the name Lorde, but added an ‘e’ to make it feminine.

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!

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2026-03-01 15:18