14 Famous Ladies Who Changed Their Names After Getting Married
Most celebs don't change their names after marriage, but these 14 ladies did.
Aug. 11, 2012— -- I've always been shocked by the statistic that 93 percent of American women take their husband's last name. But there's one group that's overly represented in the seven percent who don't -- celebrities.
It makes sense because, once you get to the point where you're famous, your name is a brand. It's the way people have, and most likely will continue to, see you. Changing it is just confusing. After all, what would we make of Reese Toth? Or Drew Kopelman?
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That's why it comes as sort of surprise that Lily Allen, who has released two albums that went Gold in the U.S. and triple platinum in the UK, has not only legally changed her name following her marriage to Sam Cooper, but professionally as well. Should she ever release a third record (please, Lily, won't you?), it'll be under the name Lily Rose Cooper.
When your name is integral to your brand as an entertainer, a move like this mid-career seems risky to me. I mean, I really don't think I'll be changing my professional name to Amelia Gosling, you know? [ Rolling Stone]
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Anyway, see below for other stars who changed their names post-marriage.
Katy Perry briefly changed her name to Katy Brand following her marriage to Russell Brand. Maybe celebs should wait a year or two before committing to the name change, considering how many of them split.Portia de Rossi officially changed her last name to DeGeneres in September 2010. Luckily, she and Ellen had the first syllable of their names in common. No need to get new monogrammed towels!
Courteney Cox became Courteney Cox Arquette when she got married to David Arquette in 1999. Then we noticed that she'd dropped the "Arquette" in the promotional lead-up to "Cougar Town." Was it a prelude to their separation?
Surprise! Did you know that Demi Moore actually did change her last name to Kutcher? She apparently did this for their fourth wedding anniversary in 2009. Even more interesting—did you know that Moore isn't Demi's original last name? Nope, she got that one from her first husband, Freddy Moore. Hmm, maybe she's learned her lesson now that she and Kutcher are done...
Pamela Anderson has dropped and added Lee to her name several times. After all, she filed for divorce from Tommy twice and reconciled with him twice. It's kind of like a ping pong match.
Salma Hayek made the decision to change her last name, after marrying François-Henri Pinault in 2009. Why? Because her daughter asked her to. "It was Valentina's request," Salma explained to People magazine. "She said, 'What does it say there?' And I said, 'Salma Hayek.' And she said, 'What about Pinault? Why not Pinault?' Because here [in France] people say, 'Madame Pinault.' I said to myself, 'This is who I am now. I'm starting a whole new life. Why shouldn't I share it with the people who have been supporting me my whole career, who have been with me since the beginning?' I should let them in on the fact that I'm a different person, and a better person."
When Rebecca Romijn married John Stamos, she became Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. When they divorced, she went back to her maiden name. She joked when she got engaged to Jerry O'Connell that she wanted to take just the "O" this time and go by Rebecca O'Romijn. But it didn't stick.
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