Originally appeared on E! Online<\/a><\/p>\n Don\u2019t worry if you\u2019ve pronounced <\/span>Olivia Wilde<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s name wrong, darling.<\/span><\/p>\n Most people don\u2019t know that the 42-year-old\u2019s real name, <\/span>Olivia Cockburn<\/strong>, is actually pronounced like \u201cCoburn.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a Scottish name,\u201d the <\/span>Don\u2019t Worry Darling<\/span> director said to <\/span>Dax Shepard <\/strong>on the June 29 episode of <\/span>Armchair Expert<\/span><\/a>. \u201cAnd it’s very much like \u2018A Boy Named Sue.\u2019 You know what I mean? Like it’s character building.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n As one may expect, it wasn\u2019t easy growing up with a suggestive last name\u2014even if her parents are accomplished journalists <\/span>Andrew Cockburn <\/strong>and <\/span>Leslie Cockburn<\/strong>. Although she admitted she was sometimes bullied because of her name, Wilde found a silver lining in the teasing.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was an early important lesson in like laughing along, not in a way that was like giving into the bullies,\u201d she added. \u201cIn a way that, I don’t know, just like I thought it was funny too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But regardless of their names, Wilde holds her family in high regard, noting how much she looks up to all of her relatives.<\/span><\/p>\n More from E! Online<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI was so proud to be a part of my family because I come from multiple generations of journalists,\u201d the <\/span>House<\/span> alum continued. \u201cAnd so I grew up with both my grandmother, my grandfather, my uncles, my dad, my cousins, everybody was a journalist on my dad’s side. And my mom has this really interesting family.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And clearly, Wilde has carried on the tradition of creating impactful work, as she has gone on to be a successful actor and director. However, it hasn\u2019t always been a smooth journey for the mother of two, who shares kids <\/span>Otis<\/strong>, 12, and<\/span> Daisy<\/strong>, 9, with ex <\/span>Jason Sudeikis<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n In fact, Wilde has finally been <\/span>opening up about the drama<\/span><\/a> surrounding her film <\/span>Don\u2019t Worry Darling<\/span>, including the rumor that she and costar <\/span>Florence Pugh<\/strong> got into a <\/span>screaming match<\/span><\/a> on set. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI have never had a screaming match on my set,\u201d she told The Cut in an interview published June 24. \u201cI was never not available on set. I wanted to be like, \u2018None of this is true.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But all of these experiences\u2014from public scrutiny to getting bullied for her real name\u2014have made her stronger.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf you can push through the moment you have previously identified as the worst possible thing that could happen to you, whether that is divorce or the internet hating you or whatever,\u201d she told the outlet, \u201cyou are forged into something way better than you could have possibly imagined.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Keep reading to see more celebs who have changed their names\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n Austin Richard Post<\/p>\n Congratulations to Post Malone<\/strong>, who incorporated his surname into his stage name. However, the rapper does prefer his close friends to call him by his real name.<\/p>\n During the 2024 MTV VMAs, Taylor Swift<\/strong> referred to him as “Austin” when they won the Best Collaboration award for their duet “Fortnight.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Aubrey Frances Anderson-Emmons<\/p>\n Though she portrayed Lilly on Modern Family under the name Aubrey Anderson-Emmons<\/strong>, the actress changed her moniker to Frances Anderson<\/strong> to mark her era as a musician.<\/p>\n \u201cFrances is actually part of my legal name\u2014it\u2019s my middle name, and it\u2019s after my mom\u2019s old family friend,\u201d she explained in a 2025 E! News interview<\/a>. \u201cI thought, one, it was a bit shorter than ‘Aubrey Anderson-Emmons.’ I do have a long, hyphenated last name.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Hannah Fanning & Mary Fanning<\/p>\n The siblings grew up going up by their middle names<\/a>, which they chose to use when they entered Hollywood: Dakota Fanning and Elle Fanning. <\/p>\n As Elle explained, because their mother went by her middle name, it made sense for the sisters to do the same. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was awkward in school when they were calling roll call,\u201d she recalled to Glamour in 2016, \u201cbecause they\u2019d go, \u2018Mary? Mary?\u2019 Kids would be like, \u2018There\u2019s no Mary here.\u2019 I\u2019d awkwardly raise my hand, like, \u2018Uh, it\u2019s me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n William Carl Radke<\/p>\n The Summer House star shocked Bravo fans by revealing his legally given first name isn’t actually Carl<\/a>.<\/p>\n “My I.D. and my passport\u2014my first name is William,” Carl\u2014who has appeared on the reality show for all nine seasons\u2014told PopViewers<\/a> in August 2025. “So, my middle name is Carl, but I’ve always, since day one, been called Carl.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sterling Kelby Brown<\/p>\n Sterling K. Brown<\/strong> went by his middle name Kelby until he was a teenager.<\/p>\n “My dad’s name is <\/span>Sterling Brown Jr.<\/strong>, my grandfather is <\/span>Sterling Brown Sr.<\/strong>,” he said during an April 2025 appearance on <\/span>The Kelly Clarkson Show<\/span><\/a>. “I wanted my own name and it felt like Sterling was an old man’s name.”<\/span><\/p>\n But years after his dad died from a heart attack, the This Is Us alum decided to revert back to his first name as a way to honor his father.<\/p>\n “Because he passed away when I was 10, by the time I turned 16 and I hadn’t heard his name for five, five-and-a-half years,\u201d he continued. \u201cI was like, \u2018I kinda just want to hear that name again.\u2019 So I asked people to call me Sterling.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Nicholas Dylan Efron<\/p>\n The Traitors winner shared on E!’s Hot Goss that his real name is Nicholas Dylan Harrison Efron<\/strong>, but he’s “axed off” his first name and prefers Dylan. As he explained, “That’s my first name and everything gets bumped up,” making Harrison his middle name now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Andrew Mignogna, Matthew Mignogna & Joey Mignogna<\/p>\n Andrew Lawrence<\/strong>, Matthew Lawrence<\/strong> and Joey Lawrence<\/strong> adopted a new last name in their careers. Joey\u2014whose middle name is Lawrence\u2014was the first to do so after a talent agent criticized the family surname.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Katherine Victoria Litwack<\/p>\n Kat Dennings<\/strong> adopted a stage name at age 9, years before she made her official onstage acting debut on a 2000 episode of Sex and the City.<\/p>\n<\/span><\/div>\n
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