18 Actors You Didn't Know Actually Use Their Middle Names

The culture of name changing in Hollywood and in wider famous circles runs pretty deep: obviously Lady Gaga wasn't christened such when she was born, but then Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta doesn't really have the same ring to it. Other actors - like Demi Moore, Mila Kunis and Whoopi Goldberg (named, somewhat self-deprecatingly after her flatulence issues and her mother's assumption that a Jewish name would be more successful) have gone with something more memorable than what their parents gave them. That's the value of doing something for a living that requires pretending: you can basically be whoever you want to be. Why be Alicia Beth Moore when you could be Pink? Why be Eric Marlon Bishop, when you could be Jamie Foxx? And why be Cornelius Crane Chase when you could be the far more stream-lined Chevy in honour of a nickname your grandmother gave you? The possibilities are endless. But despite the seemingly infinite opportunities to call yourself Maxx Power or Princess Consuela Bananahammock, some celebrities choose to stay closer to home, preferring to remain loyal to their parents wishes without entirely accepting them by simply dropping their first name and going by their middle one.

Rating: William Clark Gable

Names for his father, William Henry "Will" Gable, the Hollywood legend was called Clark even in childhood. Somewhat hilariously, he was mistakenly listed as being female on his birth certificate.