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Millie Bobby Brown Reveals Her New Name, and Several Other Celebrity Name Changes That May Shock You

Entertainment

Dec 2, 2025 8:04 am·

By Lauren Schuster

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2245441454 Millie Bobby Brown Reveals Her New Name, and Several Other Celebrity Name Changes That May Shock You

Millie Bobby Brown: Millie Bonnie Bongiovi

As some fans may already know, Millie Bobby Brown’s real middle name is actually Bonnie, not Bobby. Back in March, the actress revealed in an interview with BuzzFeed UK that she made the choice to change her middle name for her stage name “for sh*** and giggles.” Now, in a new interview with VT, Brown played a game with her Stranger Things castmate Noah Schnapp where she revealed that ever since her marriage to Jake Bongiovi in 2024, her full legal name has been Millie Bonnie Bongiovi. Or, as she joked in the video, Millie Bon Bon for short!

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2189502616 Millie Bobby Brown Reveals Her New Name, and Several Other Celebrity Name Changes That May Shock You

Elton John: Reginald Kenneth Dwight

Call him Elton or call him “The Rocket Man,” the legendary singer’s birth name is actually Reginald Kenneth Dwight. He legally changed his name to Elton Hercules John in 1972 after having adopted the stage name “Elton John” in 1968. In a December 2024 interview with Good Morning America, John elaborated on his decision to change his name. “I just didn’t like it, and as soon as I could, I changed my name,” he shared. “I was very clever, I thought, ‘No one’s really called Elton, so I’ll be Elton, and I’ll be the only Elton.’”

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88445476 Millie Bobby Brown Reveals Her New Name, and Several Other Celebrity Name Changes That May Shock You

Bob Dylan: Robert Allen Zimmerman

Beloved folk singer Bob Dylan was actually born Robert Allen Zimmerman, and tried out several other stage names, including Elston Gunnn and Bob Landy, before committing to Bob Dylan. He legally changed his name in 1962 after his debut album was released. In a 2004 interview with 60 Minutes, Dylan explained his point of view on his name change, saying, “Some people get born, you know, to the wrong names, to the wrong parents—I mean, that happens […] You call yourself what you want to call yourself. This is the land of the free.”

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1389396821 Millie Bobby Brown Reveals Her New Name, and Several Other Celebrity Name Changes That May Shock You

Bruno Mars: Peter Gene Hernandez

Born Peter Gene Hernandez, singer Bruno Mars created a stage name to give himself broader opportunities in the music business, but did not legally change it. As a toddler, his father gave him the nickname Bruno because he resembled famous wrestler Bruno Sammartino, and his entire family referred to him as Bruno growing up. In a 2013 interview with GQ, Mars explained that he changed his last name because he didn’t want to be boxed into a certain music genre. He said he wanted to avoid hearing things like, “’Your last name’s Hernandez, maybe you should do this Latin music, this Spanish music… Enrique’s so hot right now.’”

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2234210760 Millie Bobby Brown Reveals Her New Name, and Several Other Celebrity Name Changes That May Shock You

Lady Gaga: Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta

Superstar Lady Gaga was actually born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta and took on the name Lady Gaga in the early days of her career, but never legally changed it. The name came from the Queen song “Radio GaGa” which her producer said reminded him of her. In a now-deleted 2010 interview with Flybe Magazine, Gaga said, “My producer, Rob Fusari […] started to call me GaGa when I’d come into the studio. When we were getting ready to really start performing, I decided that I’d been playing under my real name for so long I wanted a new way to reinvent myself. So I said, what about Lady GaGa, because Gaga is sort of crazy and Lady has such connotations.”

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2245042125 Millie Bobby Brown Reveals Her New Name, and Several Other Celebrity Name Changes That May Shock You

Dove Cameron: Chloe Celeste Hoffman

Actress Dove Cameron was actually born Chloe Celeste Hoffman, but legally changed her name when she started acting for a very special reason. In a 2014 interview with Glancer Magazine, she explained, “I changed my name when I was 14 years old. I was originally born with the name Chloe and my dad always used to call me Dove and Dovey and Dovely. He actually passed away right around the time I changed my name and so when I went into the business, it was my sort of way of honoring him.” In a 2017 response to a fan on Twitter, she further explained that her father took his own life and she wanted to keep his memory alive through her career.

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