Stage name

A stage name, or a screen name for film stars, is a pseudonym used by performers and actors. People may take on a stage name because their real name is considered dull, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projects the wrong image; or because they wish to remain anonymous in relation to another sphere of work. In past decades stage names were used because certain actors real names were considered too "ethnic". In Britain, the actors' union Equity stipulates that no two members may have the same working name, and therefore actors are often forced to modify their name or take a new one. The Screen Actors Guild has similar rules in the United States.

A consideration in choosing a stage name is ease of use. Actor's Equity Association (AEA) advises performers to select a name that is easy for others to pronounce, spell and remember. A survey of the three U.S. regional heads of AEA reveals that a performer whose name is difficult to pronounce, spell, or remember is less likely to be hired than other performers.

Many performers refer to their stage names as their 'professional names'.

Famous stage names include:

• Jack Benny - Benjamin Kubelsky
• The Big Bopper - Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr
• Bono - Paul David Hewson
• David Bowie - David Jones
• Mel Brooks - Melvin Kaminsky
• George Burns - Nathan Birnbaum
• Michael Caine - Maurice Joseph Micklewhite
• Jackie Chan - Chan Kong-sang (Cheng Long was a Chinese screen name)
• Cher - Cherilyn Sarkisian
• Elvis Costello - Declan Patrick Aloysius McManus
• Tom Cruise - Thomas Cruise Mapother IV
• Kirk Douglas - Issur Danielovitch Demsky
• Bob Dylan (after Dylan Thomas) - Robert Allen Zimmerman
• Eminem - Marshall Bruce Mathers III
• Fatboy Slim - Quentin Cook, later Norman Cook
• Flea - Michael Balzary
• Judy Garland - Frances Ethel Gumm
• Whoopi Goldberg - Caryn Elaine Johnson
• Stewart Granger - James Stewart
• Cary Grant - Archie Leach
• Harry Houdini - Ehrich Weiss
• Elton John - Reginald Dwight
• Mrs Jordan - Dorothea Bland (mistress of King William IV of the United Kingdom)
• Boris Karloff - William Pratt
• Danny Kaye - David Daniel Kaminski
• Nathan Lane - Joseph Lane
• Jerry Lewis - Joseph Levitch
• Josef Locke - Joseph McLaughlin
• Linda Lovelace - Linda Susan Boreman
• Madonna - Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone
• Dean Martin - Dino Crocetti
• Freddie Mercury - Faroukh Bulsara
• Marilyn Monroe - Norma Jean Mortenson, later Norma Jean Baker
• Yves Montand - Ivo Livi
• Eric Morecambe - Eric John Bartholomew
• Le Pétomane - Joseph Pujol
• Prince - Prince Rogers Nelson
• Vic Reeves - James Moir
• Mickey Rooney - Joe Yule Jr.
• Axl Rose - William Bruce Rose
• Seal - Sealhenry Olusegun Olumide Samuel
• Slash - Saul Hudson
• Dusty Springfield - Mary O'Brien
• Ringo Starr - Richard Starkey
• Sting - Gordon Sumner
• Ritchie Valens - Ricardo Valenzuela
• Sid Vicious - John Simon Ritchie
• John Wayne - Marion Robert Morrison, later Marion Michael Morrison
• Gene Wilder - Jerome Silberman
• Ernie Wise - Ernest Wiseman
• Stevie Wonder - Steveland Morris