Why Do Celebs Change Their Birth Names

Have you ever heard of Martha Kostyra? How about a person named Caryn Johnson? You most likely have but you did not know it at the time. Martha Stewart dropped the name Kostyra for the plain Stewart and Whoopi Goldberg completely dropped her given name of Caryn Johnson. I ask myself why celebrities are so obsessed with their names, that they would change the name that they have had all of their lives.

My first thought is that they may change their name to help protect their family members that share their last name. If celebrities make it big their families also get caught up in the mix. However, it does not take much digging or time for their birth names to be made public. So, celebrity name changing for that particular reason would be pretty much pointless.

My next thought (and the most probable) is that celebrities want to change their odd or plain names into something that would make them a household name. Would you still like Shania Twain's music if it were published under her real name of Eileen Regina Edwards? Would you take LL Cool J's music the same if it came under his birth name James Todd Smith III? Would a rose smell any different under another name?

Here is a short list of some of the popular celebrities that have made the name change:

-Kirk Douglas changed from Issur Danielovitch

-Marilyn Manson changed from Bryan Warner

-Marilyn Monroe changed from Norma Jean Mortenson

-Natalie Portman changed from Natalie Hershlag

-Snoop Dogg changed from Cordazer Calvin Broadus

-Carmen Electra changed from Tara Leigh Patrick

-Demi Moore changed from Demetria Guynes

Society may be responsible for the name changing as well as agents. I know that many celebrities are told by their agents that they should use a stage name or alter their given name.