1Reese Witherspoon
Jeff Spicer//Getty ImagesReal name: Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon
Reese kept her name but shortened it, choosing to keep her mom's maiden name, Reese, and make that her first. Apparently, she changed her name to make it more "Hollywood."
2Nina Dobrev
Jean Baptiste Lacroix//Getty ImagesReal name: Nikolina Konstantinova Dobreva
Nina's real Bulgarian name is super long. So, it's no wonder she chose to shorten it to appeal better to Hollywood. She says she shortened it to make it more "memorable."
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3Kat Dennings
Kevin Winter//Getty ImagesReal name: Katherine Litwack
While the actress' first name is just a nickname, she changed her last name from Litwack to Dennings. She swapped it to make it sound better on the tongue.
4Lucy Hale
Araya Diaz//Getty ImagesReal name: Karen Lucille Hale
While she kept her last name, Lucy claimed her middle name as her first but shortened it to a nickname, going from Lucille to Lucy. She announced it on Jimmy Fallon and shocked many fans.
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5Emma Stone
Frederick M. Brown//Getty ImagesReal name: Emily Stone
Emma is actually Emily Stone, but she chose to go with a different "Em" sound because she loved Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton, as she said on Jimmy Fallon.
6Nicki Minaj
Paul Zimmerman//Getty ImagesReal name: Onika Tanya Maraj
Nicki was born Onika Tanya Maraj, but she changed it to a stage name she thought was a better fit for stardom.
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7Faith Hill
Matt Winkelmeyer/ACMA2017//Getty ImagesReal name: Audrey Faith Perry
Faith chose to take her middle name as her first. And when she married her first husband, Daniel Hill, she took his last name. After their divorce, she kept it professionally—she thought it fit better, and her fans already knew her as Faith Hill at that point. (And for the record, she must still love her given name, because she and current husband Tim McGraw named their third daughter Audrey!)
8Portia De Rossi
Jon Kopaloff//Getty ImagesReal name: Amanda Lee Rogers
Portia chose to legally change her name based off of a character in William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice. She later also changed her last name to DeGeneres in honor of her wife, Ellen, back in 2010.
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9Lana Del Rey
Christopher Polk//Getty ImagesReal name: Elizabeth Grant
Born Elizabeth Grant, or "Lizzie," she chose to go by Lana Del Rey for her singing career. She tried to make it as Lizzie Grant, but her career flopped, so she renamed herself, tried again, and made a splash.
10Carmen Electra
Jason Merritt/TERM//Getty ImagesReal name: Tara Leigh Patrick
Carmen changed her birth name in 1991 after meeting Prince, who suggested she change her name to further her career. She took his advice and went with it.
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11Audrey Hepburn
Hulton Archive//Getty ImagesReal name: Edda van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston
While there's a ton of speculation surrounding the origins of Audrey Hepburn's name, most experts say the Belgian-born actress changed it to Audrey because it's the English form of Edda.
12Katy Perry
Jon Kopaloff//Getty ImagesReal name: Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson
In 2003, Katy began performing as Katheryn Perry to avoid getting mistaken for actress Kate Hudson. But then she shortened it and went all in on Katy instead.
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13Tina Fey
John Shearer//Getty ImagesReal name: Elizabeth Stamatina Fey
Tina actually changed her name before stardom, back when she was in high school. The shortened version does have a nice flow to it, doesn't it?
14Helen Mirren
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15Marilyn Monroe
Michael Ochs Archives//Getty ImagesReal name: Norma Jean Mortenson
Marilyn legally changed her name back in 1956. She changed it after studio executive Ben Lyon suggested she go with something that popped better as a stage name.
16Whoopi Goldberg
Ron Galella//Getty ImagesReal name: Caryn Elaine Johnson
Apparently, Whoopi got her stage name after her co-workers at a job prior to fame noticed she had gas issues and nicknamed her "Whoopie Cushion."
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17Olivia Wilde
John Shearer//Getty Images 18Rita Wilson
Amy Sussman//Getty ImagesReal name: Margarita Ibrahimoff
The actress's father, originally from Greece, moved to the U.S. in 1960 and changed his name to Allan Wilson. That's when a young Margarita started going by Rita, and took on Wilson as her last name as well.
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19Jennifer Aniston
Gregg DeGuire//Getty ImagesReal name: Jennifer Linn Anastassakis
This one wasn't Jen's fault. Her father, soap star John Aniston, actually changed their family's name, Anastassakis, to get more work.
20Miley Cyrus
Kevin Mazur//Getty Images 
Isadora Baum is a freelance writer, certified health coach, and author of 5-Minute Energy. She can't resist a good sample, a margarita, a new HIIT class, or an easy laugh. Learn more about her on her website: isadorabaum.com.
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