13 Celebs You Never Knew Use Stage Names

Celebrities using stage names for their professional careers is nothing new, but it actually happens more frequently than you might think. Some stage names are obvious because they're pretty extreme -- we all get that Lady Gaga was not exactly the name she was given at birth. But some stage names could actually pass for normal names, so you might have never realized that they aren't the celeb's real name. Here are 13 celebs you never knew use stage names, and the many reasons why they don't go by their birth names. Of course, we've included their real names, so get ready.

13 Jamie Foxx

Jamie Foxx was born Eric Marlon Bishop, but he decided to change his first name to something that was a little more gender ambiguous when he started doing stand-up. Why? Comedy clubs usually call women to go before the men. As for the Foxx part, that was inspired by Redd Foxx, one of his all-time fave sitcom stars from the show Sanford & Son's. Redd Foxx was actually a stage name too -- the actor was born John Elroy Sanford.

12 Katy Perry

Katy Perry was actually born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, meaning that her normal nickname would have been Katy Hudson. There's nothing wrong with that name at all… except that Kate Hudson already has it and Katy didn't want to cause any confusion. Perry is her mom's maiden name, so she kept that. Katy's parents are both pastors, and she actually sang in the church from age nine to 17.

11 Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen was actually given the name Carlos Irwin Estévez at birth. Martin Sheen, his dad (you might have heard of him), was born Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estevez to an Irish mom and a Spanish father. Charlie's brother Emilio Estevez decided to keep his real name. Their sister Renee Estevez is also an actress who had a recurring role on The West Wing. Martin chose to change his name to help his career because his old name wasn't getting him the jobs and said his name is still Esteves on official docs.

10 Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj was born Onika Tanya Maraj, which is sort of along the same wavelength of her new name, although pretty different at the same time. She dreamed about becoming an actress, not a rapper, and even attended the performing arts high school LaGuardia in New York. She worked at Red Lobster in the Bronx while pursuing an acting career until she was fired for being rude to customers. When she first got serious about music, she was in a girl group called Hoodstars, and then released her first solo mixtape in 2007.

9 Portia De Rossi

Portia De Rossi's real name? Amanda Lee Rogers. She changed her name to Portia De Rossi at fifteen, saying that it was the most daring thing she had done. She chose the name Portia after a character in The Merchant of Venice, and then went with an Italian last name. She changed her name in order to reinvent herself. She technically changed her name when she married Ellen in 2008, which legally makes her Portia Lee James DeGeneres.

8 Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage was actually born Nicolas Kim Coppola… yup, those Coppolas. His dad August Coppola was a teacher and the brother of Francis Ford Coppola (again, you might know that name). His mom was a dancer and choreographer named Joy Vogelsang. Director Sofia Coppola is his cousin, actress Talia Shire is his aunt, and actor Jason Schwartzman is his cousin. Nicholas picked the last name Cage to pay homage to his favorite comic book superhero, Luke Cage.

7 Tim Allen

Tim Allen sounds like a pretty normal name, but Allen is actually his middle name. His given last name was Dick, which he dropped when his career started taking off. Tim was dared by his friend to do stand-up, and that was his first time stepping onto that stage. He kept doing it on the side while he worked at an ad firm. He ended up pursuing comedy full-time after getting arrested for dealing drugs, and he had trouble finding a job, as is pretty typical of ex-cons. He was actually sentenced to life in prison but got out of it by turning in the names of other people involved. And the rest is history.

6 Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix was actually born with the super cool first name of Joaquin, but his entire birth name was Joaquin Rafael Bottom. Bottom? Yeah, we prefer Phoenix. He was born to Russian/Hungarian mother Arlyn Dunetz, and Irish/Spanish father John Lee Bottom, and the family lived in Puerto Rico at the time. After the birth of their fifth child, the parents changed their surname to Phoenix, but the name changes didn't stop there. Joaquin went by the name Leaf for eleven years, and his siblings had other nature names: River, Rain, Liberty, and Summer.

5 Olivia Wilde

Olivia Wilde was born Olivia Cockburn. She dropped that last name pretty fast and decided to go with Wilde after Oscar Wilde to honor her writer parents. She also played Gwendolen in a high school production of The Importance of Being Earnest. Olivia's first marriage was actually to an Italian prince, who she wed when she was only 18. The marriage didn't last, but her fairytale life seems to still be going pretty strong.

4 Louis C.K.

Louis C.K. was born Louis Szekely, which is, yeah, pretty hard to pronounce. It's actually not because it sounds just like C.K. Tricky! But of course no one would know that by looking at the original Hungarian version, so Louis made things easier on everyone, including himself. Fun fact: Louis was so discouraged by his first attempt at stand-up that he didn't give it another go for two whole years. Yes, really!

3 Demi Moore

Demi Moore's real name is Demetria Gene Guynes, although her last name came from her stepfather Danny Guynes, not her real father Charles Harmon (he and her mom Virginia King split before Demi was born). She met the musician Freddy Moore in a nightclub at sixteen, and the two got married by the time she was 17. The marriage lasted five years but she decided to stick with the name Moore even after they divorced (and even with her other marriages).

2 Blake Lively

Blake Lively was actually born Blake Ellender Brown, but she decided to use her mom's last name when she started acting. However, Lively wasn't originally her mom's name either. Blake's mom was born Elaine McAlpin, and married Ronnie Lively, keeping the name when they split. Then, Blake's father Ernie Brown came into the picture which is where Blake and her brother Eric got their original last name. Got all that? But then everyone started going by Lively, even Blake's father Ernie, so essentially he took his wife's first husband's name. Blake's other three half siblings were born Lively's from the first marriage. Phew.

1 Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus was actually born Destiny Hope Cyrus… which also sounds like a stage name. But it didn't last long. Miley was a nickname that evolved from the nickname "Smiley." She changed her name legally to Miley Ray Cyrus when she was only fifteen.  She chose the middle name Ray so that it would be the same as her father, Billy Ray Cyrus. Looks like it worked out pretty well for her.