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Jerry O’Connell is sharing his real name<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
The Talk<\/em> alum explained on Live with Kelly and Mark <\/em>on Friday, May 8, how he ended up with the name Jerry, despite it not being his birth name<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n “Sometimes I look at myself and go, \u2018Yeah, I am a Jerry! I don\u2019t look like a Michael, actually,’ ” he said<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Jerry O’Connell<\/a>\u00a0wasn’t born Jerry O’Connell.<\/p>\n The Talk<\/em> alum, 52, explained the history of his name while appearing on Live with Kelly and Mark<\/em> with his mom, Linda O\u2019Connell, on Friday, May 8, for a special Mother’s Day epsisode.<\/p>\n After host Kelly Ripa<\/a> told the actor that she “heard through the grapevine” that she’d been calling him a “fake name,” Jerry confirmed that his real name is actually Michael Jeremiah O\u2019Connell \u2014 but he’s “always Jerry.”<\/p>\n “His grandfather is Jeremiah and our favorite cousin is Jerry DeScipio,” Linda said. “But actually, his real name is Michael Jeremiah Witkowski O\u2019Connell.”<\/p>\n Jerry O’Connell and his mom, Linda on ‘Live with Kelly and Mark’ Witkowski, Jerry said, is his mom’s maiden name. Mark Consuelos<\/a> then asked Jerry if his full name ever came into play when he got “in trouble” as a kid.<\/p>\n “No, I was always a Jerry,” he said.<\/p>\n The actor added, “And by the way, sometimes I look at myself and go, \u2018Yeah, I am a Jerry! I don\u2019t look like a Michael, actually.\u2019 “<\/p>\n As for how he was as a child, Jerry’s mom told Ripa, 55, and Consuelos, 55, that he was “very active, very energetic and always in trouble.” Energetic, Jerry joked, was just “code word for annoying.”<\/p>\n “He did get in a little bit of trouble in school because all of his teachers \u2014 especially one who stands out \u2014 said \u2018he talks too much and he never sits still and he\u2019s always raising his hand and he never stops talking,’ ” Linda recalled. “So I said, \u2018You don\u2019t realize, you\u2019re trying to stifle the very things we\u2019re trying to encourage in this boy.\u2019 So she shut up!”<\/p>\n Jerry added, “I believe the term was \u2018hyperactive.\u2019 I don\u2019t know if they use it anymore and I\u2019m sorry if anyone\u2019s offended by that.”<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for<\/strong> PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/strong><\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n The actor, who got his start in Hollywood in the 1986 film\u00a0Stand by Me<\/em><\/a>, opened up to PEOPLE in December 2025 about the film’s 40th anniversary and how it “helped me become who I am.” He was 11 years old at the time of filming and starred alongside Wil Wheaton<\/a>,\u00a0River Phoenix<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Corey Feldman<\/a>.<\/p>\n “For me personally, I was what they called a hyperactive kid. I was always getting in trouble at school for making jokes or speaking out of turn,” he said, adding that late director\u00a0Rob Reiner<\/a> encouraged him to act up and be loud on set as a kid.<\/p>\n “I heard Rob Reiner come over to where we were filming and be like, ‘Jerry! Jerry!’ And he was yelling and he was a big dude,” Jerry added. “And I was like, ‘Oh, God. I forgot. I was supposed to sit on my hands and shut up. I totally forgot. I just got in the moment. I can’t believe it. Oh, God. Here we go again.’ And Rob Reiner came into set, and all four of us were there, and he went, ‘Hey, Jerry, more of that. Keep going, dude. Keep going. Go farther.’ “<\/p>\n
Credit: ABC<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n