Just the other day my sister told me "Bow Wow's" real name.(It NEVER occured to me that he had one! ) Rappers always have a stage name (sometimes more that one; think: Notorious B.I.G. Biggie, Biggie Smalls); it's not that their real names are a secret, it's just that sometimes we don't always think about them. Guess, other music artist use a stage name as well (I'm sure it doesn't say "Moby" on his birth certificate!)

So whose real name(s) do you know?

Dre. Dre
The D.O.C.
Master P
Snoop Dogg
50 Cent
Eminem
Nate Dogg
Warren G
Jay Z

It's not just rappers that have stage names.

I found a pretty cool list:


Alan Alda = Alphonso D'Abruzzo
Woody Allen = Allen Konigsberg
Julie Andrews = Julia Wells
Fred Astaire = Frederick Austerlitz


B
Babyface = Kenneth Edmonds
Lauren Bacall = Betty Joan Perske
Anne Bancroft = Anna Maria Italiano
Pat Benatar = Patricia Andrejewski
Tony Bennett = Anthony Benedetto
Jack Benny = Benjamin Kubelsky
Robert Blake = Michael Gubitosi
Bono = Paul Hewson
David Bowie = David Robert Jones
Boy George = George Alan O'Dowd
Charles Bronson = Charles Buchinski
Albert Brooks = Albert Einstein
Mel Brooks = Melvin Kaminsky
George Burns = Nathan Birnbaum
Ellen Burstyn = Edna Gilhooley
Richard Burton = Richard Jenkins


C
Nicholas Cage = Nicholas Coppola
Michael Cain = Maurice Micklewhite
Maria Callas = Maria Kalogeropoulos
Vikki Carr = Florencia Casillas
Ray Charles = Ray Charles Robinson
Chubby Checker = Ernest Evans
Cher = Cherilyn Sarkisian
Patsy Cline = Virginia Patterson Hensley
Claudette Colbert = Lily Chauchoin
Robert Conrad = Conrad Robert Falk
Alice Cooper = Vincent Furnier
David Copperfield = David Kotkin
Howard Cosell = Howard Cohen
Elvis Costello = Declan McManus
Lou Costello = Louis Cristillo
Joan Crawford = Lucille Le Sueur
Michael Crawford = Michael Dumble-Smith
Tom Cruise = Thomas Mapother IV
Tony Curtis = Bernard Schwartz


D
Rodney Dangerfield = Jacob Cohen
Doris Day = Doris von Kappelhoff
James Dean = James Byron
John Denver = Henry John Deutschendorf Jr.
Bo Derek = Mary Cathleen Collins
Danny DeVito = Daniel Michaeli
Angie Dickinson = Angeline Brown
Bo Diddley = Elias Bates
Phyllis Diller = Phyllis Driver
Kirk Douglas = Issur Danielovitch
Bob Dylan = Robert Zimmerman


E
Sheena Easton = Sheena Shirley Orr
Elvira = Cassandra Paterson
Enya = Eithne Ni Bhraonian


F
Morgan Fairchild = Patsy McClenny
Sally Field = Sally Mahoney
W.C. Fields = William Claude Dukenfield
Jodie Foster = Alicia Christian Foster


G
Greta Garbo = Greta Gustafsson
Judy Garland = Frances Gumm
James Garner = James Bumgarner
Crystal Gayle = Brenda Gayle Webb
Kathie Lee Gifford = Kathie Epstein
Whoopie Goldberg = Caryn Johnson
Cary Grant = Archibald Leach


H
Hammer = Stanley Kirk Burrell
Rita Hayworth = Margarita Cansino
Pee-Wee Herman = Paul Reubenfeld
Barbara Hershey = Barbara Herzstine
Billie Holliday = Eleanora Fagan
Harry Houdini = Ehrich Weiss
Rock Hudson = Roy Scherer Jr.


I
Ice-T = Tracy Morrow
Billy Idol = William Broad


J
Elton John = Reginald Dwight
Don Johnson = Donald Wayne
Al Jolson = Asa Yoelson
Tom Jones = Thomas Woodward
Wynonna Judd = Christina Ciminella


K
Boris Karloff = William Henry Pratt
Danny Kaye = David Kaminsky
Diane Keaton = Diane Hall
Michael Keaton = Michael Douglas
Chaka Khan = Yvette Stevens
Larry King = Larry Zeigler
Ben Kingsley = Krishna Banji
Nastassja Kinski = Nastassja Naksyznyski


L
Cheryl Ladd = Cheryl Stoppelmoor
Veronica Lake = Constance Ockleman
Dorothy Lamour = Mary Kaumeyer
Michael Landon = Eugene Orowitz
Queen Latifah = Dana Owens
Stan Laurel = Arthur Jefferson
Steve Lawrence = Sidney Leibowitz
Bruce Lee = Lee Yuen Kam
Huey Lewis = Hugh Cregg
Jerry Lewis = Joseph Levitch
Jack Lord = John Joseph Ryan
Sophia Loren = Sophia Scicoloni
Peter Lorre = Laszio Lowenstein
Bela Lugosi = Bela Ferenc Blasko


M
Shirley MacLaine = Shirley Beaty
Elle MacPherson = Eleanor Gow
Madonna = Madonna Louise Ciccone
Lee Majors = Harvey Lee Yeary II
Karl Malden = Mladen Sekulovich
Barry Manilow = Barry Alan Pincus
Jayne Mansfield = Vera Jane Palmer
Walter Matthau = Walter Matuschanskayasky
Dean Martin = Dino Crocetti
Meat Loaf = Marvin Lee Aday
Ethel Merman = Ethel Zimmerman
George Michael = Georgios Panayiotou
Marilyn Monroe = Norma Jean Mortenson (later Baker)
Demi Moore = Demetria Guynes
Rita Moreno = Rosita Alverio
Harry Morgan = Harry Bratsburg


N
Chuck Norris = Carlos Ray
Andre Norton = Mary Alice Norton
Notorious B.I.G. = Christopher Wallace


P
Jack Palance = Walter Palanuik
Bernadette Peters = Bernadette Lazzaro
Slim Pickens = Louis Lindley
Mary Pickford = Gladys Smith
Stephanie Powers = Stefania Federkiewicz
Prince = Prince Rogers Nelson


R
Tony Randall = Leonard Rosenberg
Johnnie Ray = John Alvin
Donna Reed = Donna Belle Mullenger
Della Reese = Delloreese Patricia Early
Joan Rivers = Joan Sandra Molinsky
Edward G. Robinson = Emmanuel Goldenberg
Mickey Rooney = Joe Yule Jr.
Johnny Rotten = John Lydon
Winona Ryder = Winona Horowitz


S
Susan Sarandon = Susan Tomaling
Jane Seymour = Joyce Frankenberg
Omar Sharif = Michael Shalhoub
Charlie Sheen = Carlos Irwin Estevez
Martin Sheen = Ramon Estevez
Talia Shire = Talia Coppola
Sinbad = David Atkins
Slash = Saul Hudson
Suzanne Somers = Suzanne Mahoney
Robert Stack = Robert Modini
Barbara Stanwyck = Ruby Stevens
Ringo Starr = Richard Starkey
Connie Stevens = Concetta Ingolia
Sting = Gordon Sumner
Donna Summer = La Donna Gaines


T
Mr. T = Lawrence Tero
Danny Thomas = Muzyad Yakhoob
Tiny Tim = Herbert Khaury
Rip Torn = Elmore Rual Torn Jr.
Randy Travis = Randy Traywick
Sophie Tucker = Sophia Kalish
Tina Turner = Annie Mae Bullock
Twiggy = Leslie Hornby


V
Rudolph Valentino = Rudolpho D'Antonguolla
Frankie Valli = Frank Castelluccio
Sid Vicious = John Simon Ritchie


W
John Wayne = Marion Morrison
Raquel Welch = Raquel Tejada
Gene Wilder = Jerome Silberman
Shelley Winters = Shirley Schrift
Stevie Wonder = Stevland Morris
Natalie Wood = Natasha Gurdin

Wow!! Cool!!!

Ha, Ha, Ha - Ice - T's real name is Tracy

Ice Cube = O'Shea Jackson

Jamie Foxx- Eric Marlin Bishop

El DeBarge- Eldra DeBarge

DJ Quik- David Blake

Ginuwine- Elgin Lumpkin

Dr.Dre- Andre Young

Snoop Dogg- Calvin Broadus

Suge Knight- Marion Knight

LL Cool J- James Todd Smith

The Rock- Dwayne Johnson

P.Diddy- Sean Combs

Jay Z- Shawn Carter

Ja Rule- Jeffrey Atkins

Marilyn Manson- Brian Warner

Wow the names really make a difference, huh?

I've got some:

Paul McCartney- James Paul McCartney,Jr.
Joey Ramone- Jeffrey Hyman
Dee Dee Ramone- Douglas Colvin
Sid Vicious- John Simon Ritchie
Joe Strummer- John Graham Mellor
Poly Sterene- Marion Elliot
Paul Weller- John Paul Weller, Jr.
Morrissey- Steven Patrick Morrissey
Flea- Michael Peter Balzary
Sade- Helen Folasade Adu
Sly Stone- Sylvester Stewart
Lene Lovich- Lili Marlene Premilovich
The Edge- David Evans
Iggy Pop- James Jewel Osterberg
Suggs- Graham McPhereson
David Sylvian- David Batt
Bootsy- William Collins
Adam Ant- Stuart Leslie Goddard
Jerry Dammers- Gerald Dankin
Axl Rose- William Bailey
B.B. King- Riley B. King
Captain Sensible- Raymond Burns
Beck- Beck David Campbell
Jimmy Page- James Patrick Page
...and I'm not kidding either. You might've known some of these already anyway.