Sterling K. Brown’s Touching Reason He Reverted Back to His Birth Name

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Joey Lawrence Reveals His and Brothers Matthew & Andrew’s Real Names

Sterling K. Brown is known by much names than conscionable Randall Pearson.

The This Is Us alum, whose afloat sanction is Sterling Kelby Brown, precocious shared wherefore helium chose to forego his archetypal sanction and went by his mediate 1 until helium was 16 years old.

"My dad's sanction is Sterling Brown Jr., my gramps is Sterling Brown Sr.,” the Emmy victor said during the April 5 occurrence of The Kelly Clarkson Show. "I wanted my ain sanction and it felt similar Sterling was an aged man's name."

However, aft going by Kelby passim his childhood, the Paradise actor—who shares sons Andrew, 13, and Amaré, 9, with wife Ryan Michelle Bathé actor—had a alteration of bosom arsenic a teen arsenic a mode to grant his father, who had died from a bosom attack.

"Because helium passed distant erstwhile I was 10, by the clip I turned 16 and I hadn't heard his sanction for five, five-and-a-half years,” helium continued. “I was like, ‘I kinda conscionable privation to perceive that sanction again.’ So I asked radical to telephone maine Sterling."

And his nickname is not the lone mode his dad’s decease has greatly impacted his life. In fact, Sterling has been unfastened astir the memories helium has of his dad, some the hard and heartwarming ones. 

“I retrieve truly circumstantial things [about the time helium died],” helium told Sunday Today in 2019. “Waking up that greeting and going into the kitchen, and my ma being connected the phone, calling the paramedics and asking maine to enactment apparel connected my dad, due to the fact that helium was bare successful the furniture and his assemblage was stiff.”

Sterling added of his dada being taken distant by the paramedics, “He looks astatine maine implicit the railing and helium winks, conscionable winks. They transportation him retired the door, past clip I saw him.”

And though helium admitted his clip with his begetter “was short,” helium cherishes the memories. 

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“I volition accidental this astir Sterling Brown, Jr.: He filled maine up with truthful overmuch love,” Sterling shared. “It was everything that I could've hoped for for 10 years.”

Read connected for much stars who person opened up astir their existent names. 

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Sterling Kelby Brown

The This Is Us alum explained wherefore helium went by his mediate sanction Kelby until helium was a teenager.

"My dad's sanction is Sterling Brown Jr., my gramps is Sterling Brown Sr.,” helium said during an April 2025 quality connected The Kelly Clarkson Show. "I wanted my ain sanction and it felt similar Sterling was an aged man's name."

But years aft his dada died from a bosom attack, Sterling decided to revert backmost to his archetypal sanction arsenic a mode to grant his father.

"Because helium passed distant erstwhile I was 10, by the clip I turned 16 and I hadn't heard his sanction for five, five-and-a-half years,” helium continued. “I was like, ‘I kinda conscionable privation to perceive that sanction again.’ So I asked radical to telephone maine Sterling."

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Andrew Lawrence, Matthew Lawrence & Joey Lawrence

The brothers each changed their sanction from Mignogna to Lawrence, Joey's mediate name, for their signifier names. Joey was the archetypal to bash truthful aft a endowment cause criticized their past sanction and made the proposition erstwhile helium was trying to physique his amusement career.

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Katherine Victoria Litwack

Kat Dennings adopted a signifier sanction astatine property 9, years earlier she made her authoritative onstage acting debut connected a 2000 occurrence of Sex and the City.

The 2 Broke Girls alum told Kylie Kelce connected the March 13, 2025 occurrence of her podcast Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelce that she didn't deliberation her existent sanction name should "be displayed connected a poster."

The histrion drew inspiration for her signifier sanction from Christina Ricci's quality Kat successful the movie Casper arsenic good arsenic the surname of Janine Denni, the French woman of precocious The Black Cauldron author Lloyd Alexander, a writer she said was her mother's champion friend.

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Cheryl Sarkisian

For much than 3 decades, Cher was made to judge that her ineligible archetypal sanction was Cherilyn. It wasn't until the precocious '70s, erstwhile she obtained her commencement certificate successful bid to alteration her afloat sanction to conscionable Cher, that she discovered that she had been registered arsenic "Cheryl."

In her 2024 memoir, Cher: The Memoir, Part One, the popular icon recalled her ma Georgia Holt's absorption to this discovery.

She said her mother, who gave commencement to her astatine property 19, responded, "Let maine look astatine that!" and then, recalling her postpartum experience, added, "I was lone a teenager, and I was successful a batch of pain. Give maine a break."

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Collins Obinna Chibueze

The outlaw state prima follow Shaboozey arsenic his nickname and aboriginal utilized it arsenic his authoritative alias arsenic a euphony creator aft his Virginia precocious schoolhouse misspelled his surname that way.

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Austin Richard Post

Congratulations to Post Malone, who incorporated his surname into his signifier name. However, the rapper does similar his adjacent friends to telephone him by his existent name.

During the 2024 MTV VMAs, Taylor Swift referred to him arsenic "Austin" erstwhile they won the Best Collaboration grant for their duet "Fortnight."

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Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson

Though the vocalist initially released a Christian medium nether her commencement sanction successful 2001, she felt the signifier sanction Katy Perry—inspired by her mom's maiden name—might conscionable popular fans much successful awe, awe, awe. 

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Belcalis Almanzar

Cardi B took connected the name Bacardi aft household and friends started calling her sister Hennessy. Later connected she shortened the sanction to thing that suited her quite a spot more.

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Rachel Meghan Markle

Before she became the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle was concisely known arsenic Rachel. 

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Eilleen Regina Edwards

Shania Twain shared the root communicative of her signifier sanction during an quality connected Apple Music's Home Now Radio: "In short, I was born, Eilleen Regina Edwards, and past I was adopted and I became Eilleen Regina Twain. Then I became a nonrecreational vocalist and I needed a signifier sanction that sounded a small little similar my grandmother's name, due to the fact that I'm named aft my grandmother, some my grandmothers, Eilleen and Regina. I think, successful my mind, I was conscionable not truly wanting to beryllium called my grandmother's sanction onstage, truthful I decided to alteration it to Shania Twain. I met idiosyncratic with the sanction Shania, thought it was beautiful, and Shania Twain was born."

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Kayleigh Rose Amstutz

The “Good Luck, Babe!” singer’s onstage persona—Chappell Roan—has ever been a “drag project,” allowing her to acceptable boundaries and abstracted her idiosyncratic beingness from the industry.

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Jelena Noura Hadid

Oddly enough, Gigi Hadid got her signifier sanction successful schoolhouse erstwhile the teacher would confuse her and a miss named Helena. Since her ma called her "gigi" arsenic a word of endearment astatine home, she told the teacher to conscionable telephone her Gigi and it simply stuck. 

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Mark Vincent

If you're looking for an explosive action-star name, however astir Vin Diesel instead?

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Destiny Hope Cyrus

Miley Cyrus' agleam grin is what inspired her puerility nickname, Smiley. Eventually the sanction was shortened to Miley and it stuck. 

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Peter Gene Hernandez

Apparently the vocalist looked much similar a Bruno than a Peter, truthful 1 time his dada started calling him Bruno. Ever since, helium has been known arsenic Bruno Mars.

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Stefani Germanotta

Before the nutrient dresses and chart-topping music, Lady Gaga was conscionable an mundane miss from New York.

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Daniel Sudeikis

Jason Sudeikis confirmed connected Today that he was named Daniel aft his father, but pursuing immoderate confusion, his ma started utilizing his mediate sanction Jason to debar confusion. 

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Emily Stone

Emma Stone ended adopting this signifier sanction aft uncovering retired that the Screen Actors Guild already had a subordinate registered nether her birthname. 

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Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon

Turns retired Reese isn't even Reese Witherspoon's mediate name. The histrion chose the moniker successful grant of her mother, whose maiden sanction is Reese.

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Elizabeth Woolridge Grant

Every creator has an change ego, and Lana Del Rey conscionable happens to beryllium the persona of prime for the singer. 

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Christopher Edwin Breaux

In 2014, Frank Ocean legally changed his sanction because, wherefore not? 

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Elizabeth Stamatina Fey

A small known information about 30 Rock's Tina Fey is that she is really named Elizabeth. The comedian made a not truthful subtle tribute to her commencement sanction by naming her quality Liz Lemon.

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Calvin Broadus

This pioneer of West Coast rap would aboriginal spell connected to beryllium known arsenic Snoop Dogg.

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Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor

Turns retired the "Royals" vocalist is truly into learning astir the aristocracy, hence the crushed wherefore she chose the name Lorde, but with a feminine 'e.'

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Enrique Morales

Before helium started shaking his bonbon for the masses, euphony superstar Ricky Martin went by this mundane name.

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Amethyst Kelly

It's hard to judge that Iggy Azalea was calved Amethyst Kelly!

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Adam Richard Wiles

Fans were confused when Taylor Swift thanked then-boyfriend Adam successful an acceptance speech, which pb radical to the find that Calvin Harris is simply a signifier name. The DJ told Shortlist magazine helium chose the sanction due to the fact that his archetypal azygous was much soulful and wanted thing a spot much "racially ambiguous."

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Jennifer Anastassakis

Before she became a household name, this was what erstwhile Friend Jennifer Aniston answered to.

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Alicia Augello Cook

Alicia Keys didn't ever person specified a philharmonic name.

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Thomas Mapother IV

Before helium became arguably the biggest movie prima successful the world, Tom Cruise went by this name.

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