What’s in a name? Well for some celebrities things might have been very different if they hadn’t have changed theirs. Think Stefani Germanotta sounds like a star? What about Caryn Johnson? Things might have been very different for these 10 celebrities if they hadn’t found the perfect name to launch their careers.

Lady GagaStefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, my how you've changed

Lady GaGa

Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, the aspiring singer was given the Gaga nickname by her then boyfriend music producer Rob Fusari, after the Queen song, ‘Radio Gaga’. Gaga later told Flybe magazine that she added the Lady “because Gaga is sort of crazy and Lady has such connotations. I went to a private school but now I was living in this trash glitter environment. So, for me, it was the perfect description of who I had become.”

Whoopi Goldberg

Caryn Johnson got her rather unusual moniker due to her, well, flatulence. Whoopi stated in a 2013 interview that she was given the name Whoopi after the whoopee cushion and that Goldberg was a “family name”.

Portia de RossiPortia De Rossi, formerly known as Amanda Lee Rogers

Portia De Rossi

The elegant sounding De Rossi was actually born the less exciting Amanda Lee Rogers. The Australian actress felt she needed a better sounding name to reinvent herself and thus chose Portia after a character from William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, and an Italian last name which she thought sounded more exotic.

Nicolas Cage

You probably know that Cage is the nephew of famed Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola, but early on in his career Nicolas didn't want anyone thinking he was getting special treatment thanks to his famous relative. The actor decided to change his surname to Cage which was partly inspired by the Marvel Comics superhero Luke Cage.

Bruno MarsThe out of this world Bruno Mars

Bruno Mars

Bruno was born with the much more down to earth name, Peter Gene Hernandez. Bruno was actually the singer’s childhood nickname, given to him by his father who thought his young son resembled legendary wrestler Bruno Sammartino. As for the ‘Mars’ part, Bruno said, “I felt like I didn't have [any] pizzazz, and a lot of girls say I’m out of this world, so I was like I guess I'm from Mars.”

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