What’s in a name? If you’re a celebrity, the answer is often “more than you bargained for.” Stage names have long been part of show business—sometimes chosen to stand out, sometimes to avoid discrimination, and sometimes because a manager insisted it would “sound better.” But not every star ends up loving the moniker that helped make them famous.
Some have grown uncomfortable with the identity it created, others feel it no longer reflects who they are, and a few have taken the bold step of reclaiming their birth names.
Click through the gallery to discover which celebrities regret their stage names, what prompted their change of heart, and how they’ve handled the transformation.