I'm a performance artist, far from Hollywood, and I have an alias. It's called a stage name. It helps to keep my private and public lives separate, and it's cooler than my legal name.
this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2026
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You don't have to go to Hollywood to start calling yourself Don Dickle Pickle Wiggler. You can just do that now, without even leaving your room.
Hell I can be Don Dickle Pickle Wiggler, his name is Don Dickle Pickle Wiggler, her name is Don Dickle Pickle Wiggler...we all are. One big Pickle Wiggler family.
It don't matter. Somewhere back on your lineage someone just decided their last name is now Smith, or whatever. They just said it, and set your surname, hundreds of years ago.
Or some dude at immigration misheard your name so just gave you a new one.
Even your first name...your mom just decided that for you one day. She said "you're gonna be called Pat and I'm gonna have your foreskin cut off" and you just said "waaa" and accepted it.
Either way. Names don't matter. It's all made up by someone. You can (unofficially) change your name anytime you want, but you can't get your original foreskin back.
Lots of last names are occupational names, like your Smith example, so were often a qualifier that others used.
And it seems the immigration story wasn't really that common.
It happened with my last name. They changed it to end with a Y instead of I
Yes, names like Smith, Schomaker and Tanner come from the family business.
Don't ask about the Dickinsons.
Oh yeah...they were the politicians.
original
It depends.
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Sometimes it's because of structural Anglocentrism making it harder to get an acting role with a foreign-sounding last name (e.g. "Ramon Antonio Gerard Estevez" becomes "Martin Sheen" or "Ilyena Lydia Vadilievna Mironov" becomes "[Dame] Helen Mirren")
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Sometimes it's just a matter of cropping a name or two ("Philip Anthony Hopkins")
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Sometimes it's just about sounding cooler ("Eric Bishop" becomes "Jamie Foxx" or "Caryn Elaine Johnson" becomes "Whoopi Goldberg")
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And sometimes it's because there's already a SAG member with your name ("Diane Hall" becomes "Diane Keaton" or "Michael Douglas" becomes... "Michael Keaton")
The SAG forces everyone to have their own unique names, similar to a copyright. It's their brand. So if there's already a John Doe, you have to pick something different even if that's your name.
I sometimes had the thought of being introduced on Colbert show and showing I am a woman but wearing a pickle t-shirt lol
- To use Anglo-friendly name - eg “Estévez” markets worse than “Sheen”.
- To separate themselves from others with similar names. Nicolas Coppola, for example, wanted to distance himself from his uncle Francis.
- To make a memorable name - linked to 1. Thomas Mapother doesn’t stick in the brain as well. Nor does Norma Mortenson
- Two concurrent actors should not share a professional name
If I recall correctly the Acting Guild has requirements for actor names. One is no two actors can have the same name which is why Harrison Ford was credited as Harrison J Ford in his early career.
Hollywood is a business like any other and they are concerned with making money. It's rare that someone's given name is marketable. People get their names different ways but it's often their agent or some producer who picks them up who names them.
I'd go with Dong Dickler.
If you think it'll help you get the part, then yes.
Only like a third of actors change their name