Millie Bobby Brown Reveals Her Real Name and Why She Changed It
We all know Millie Bobby Brown as the star who stole the spotlight in Stranger Things, but did you know that’s not actually her real name?
In a new interview with Buzzfeed UK on Thursday (March 6), Brown revealed a little-known fact to her Electric State co-star Chris Pratt—her real middle name is actually Bonnie.
“I’ve never told anyone that,” she admitted. “You heard it here first!”
So why the switch? Brown explained that she chose “Bobby” just for fun when she first started acting. According to Page Six, the name also seems to be a nod to her father, Robert “Bobby” Brown.
Millie isn’t the only star who’s adjusted their name. Last April, Emma Stone shared in The Hollywood Reporter that she actually prefers her real name—Emily—whenever possible.
When asked if she’d correct a fan who called her Emily instead of Emma, she said, “No. That would be so nice. I would like to be Emily.”
Stone explained that people she works with call her Emily once she gets to know them. But early in her career, she had to pick a new name because “Emily Stone” was already taken by another actress in SAG-AFTRA.
“Then I freaked out a couple of years ago,” she told THR. “For some reason, I was like, ‘I can’t do it anymore. Just call me Emily.’ Nathan [Fielder] calls me Em, which is easier.”
Keke Palmer also had a name evolution. According to TODAY, she was born Lauren Keyana Palmer and originally went by Lauren in her career. But a slip-up changed everything.
“One day, my manager at that time heard my mom call me Keke because I wasn’t listening,” Palmer said in a 2022 interview. “So, she was like ‘Keke. Keke!’ And he said, ‘That’s — that should be your stage name.'”
“It went from just something that my family called me to being something that the whole world called me,” she added. “And more than anything, I would love to go back to Lauren.”
Name changes in Hollywood are more common than you think. From Jon Bon Jovi to John Legend, countless celebrities tweak, shorten, or completely change their names to stand out in the industry.
