20 popular celebrities who changed names mid-career

Snoop Dogg has had multiple monikers throughout his life and career, with some of them serving as actual stage names. One of his most unexpected name changes came in 2012 when he announced that he would be going by Snoop Lion moving forward. But that didn’t last long. 

Lil Bow Wow is another rapper who’s gone by multiple stage names. He started as a child star under the name Lil Bow Wow. Eventually, he went by just Bow Wow, and then he dropped his stage name altogether and started going by his given name, Shad Moss. 

Joaquin Phoenix, given name Joaquin Bottom, started his career using the name Leaf. He was still a teenager when he decided to go by Joaquin Phoenix instead. 

You might be more familiar with Lil Xan than Diego. Both are stage names that have been used by the artist Nicholas Leanos, with the latter coming later in his career. 

Kanye West has always gone by the nickname Ye, but after decades in the spotlight, he legally changed his name and said he’d be using Ye as his stage name, too. 

Jamie Foxx went through an assortment of stage names before settling on his final sobriquet. Tracy Brown and Stacy Green were among the first options he tried. 

Lana Del Rey could very well be the artist’s real name, but it isn’t. The singer’s given name is Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, and she used that name and Lizzy Grant when she first started releasing music before adopting Lana Del Rey. 

Prince’s given first name is actually Prince. He went mononymously for most of his career, aside from some years in the 1990s when he went by an unpronounceable “Love Symbol” as a protest against his record label at the time, Warner Bros.  

For many years, JAY-Z was known as JAY-Z. But for his 2013 album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, the rapper lost the all caps and the hyphen, going by Jay Z. He changed it back in 2017, though, upon the release of his album 4:44.  

Kesha’s real name is Kesha, but she started her career with her name stylized as Ke$ha. A few years into her music career, she dropped the dollar sign, opting for her given name as is. 

Cat Stevens is a stage name to begin with. The artist was born as Steven Georgiou. In the late 1970s, the artist converted to Islam, and with that came a new legal and stage name, Yusuf Islam. 

RM of BTS fame, whose real name is Kim Namjoon, first went by the stage name Rap Monster. Eventually, he shortened it to what he goes by now, RM. 

Suga is another BTS member who’s made a name change. The singer, whose given name is Min Yoongi, uses the name Agust D for his solo projects. 

FKA Twigs, born Tahliah Barnett, started her career as Twigs, a nickname from childhood. Early on in her career, though, she changed her stage name to FKA Twigs, which stands for Formerly Known As Twigs. 

Emma Stone’s real name is Emily Stone, but that name was taken when she registered with SAG. Stone was forced to adopt a stage name, and while she first chose Riley, she later changed it to Emma. 

Rapper Mos Def actually hasn’t gone by Mos Def in years, though that’s what most people are familiar with him as. The artist publicly began going by the name Yasiin Bey in 2012 after using the name privately for over a decade. 

J. Cole’s given name is Jermaine Cole, hence the stage name. But he didn’t always release music under that moniker. He started rapping under the name Therapist, but it didn’t feel authentic to him, so he switched to J. Cole. 

The British singer Cheryl started her career as Cheryl Tweedy. When she married soccer player Ashley Cole, she took his last name and went by Cheryl Cole professionally. After their divorce, she dropped all her second names and started going simply by Cheryl. 

It’s hard to imagine David Bowie using any name but David Bowie. But such was reality early in his career. The legendary musician started as Davie Jones, then switched to Tom Jones, then switched to David Bowie. 

Lisa Bonet’s first stage name was Lisa Boney. She’s got some professional credits under that name, but most of her work has been done under Lisa Bonet. After her divorce from Lenny Kravitz, she legally changed her name to Lilakoi Moon, but she doesn’t use it professionally.