List of people who adopted matrilineal surnames

This is a list of notable people who have changed, adopted or adjusted their surnames based on a mother's or grandmother's maiden name. Included are people who changed their legal names and people who created personal or professional pseudonyms. Under longstanding Western custom and law, children are customarily given the father's surname, except for children born outside marriage, who often carry their mother's family names. In mediaeval times where a great family died out in the male line, an alternative male heir to the estates was selected as one of the younger sons of a daughter, who was required by the bequest to adopt, by royal licence, in lieu of his patronymic, his maternal surname and coat of arms for himself and his descendants. This was also the origin of double-barrelled surnames, where the paternal surname was partially retained, or resurrected by a later generation. The compliance with the terms of the bequest was essential to avoid challenge by another potential heir in the lawcourts. In the 1970s some women began to adopt their mother's maiden name as their legal surnames. People in Sweden have recently begun adopting maternal line surnames in an effort to broaden the number of last names in the country. Such practices add considerable difficulties to the study of genealogy and family history.

Stage names

Many actors and other entertainers elect to add or include their mothers' maiden names in their adopted stage names. The book ''How to be a Working Actor: The Insider's Guide to Finding Jobs in Theater, Film, and Television'' advises aspiring performers to consider changing their names, noting that "if our birth nameis difficult to spell, pronounce, or remember, it may not be the name you want for your professional career." It goes on to suggest: "If you want to retain a connection to your family, try using your mother's maiden name or the name of a revered relative."

A person's mother's maiden name is used by many financial institutions as a key piece of information to validate a customer's identity. In 2005, researchers showed that the common practice of using a mother's maiden name as the basis for a stage name could be exploited to entice people to reveal that name and other details that could allow fraudsters to steal their identities. Researchers asked a random sample of people on London streets a series of questions, beginning with "What is your name?" They then engaged in conversation about theatre, asked people if they knew how actors choose their stage names, then told them that stage names were typically a combination of the name of a pet and the mother's maiden name. Next the participants were asked what their stage names would be; 94% responded by revealing both their mother's maiden name and a pet's name."Survey Reveals That People Will Give Away Their Identity For A Chance To Win Theatre Tickets"
net-security.org, 24 March 2005; accessed 17 February 2011. Also reported by Paul Hales
"Nicking folks' identities is easy, says researcher"
''The Inquirer'', 24 March 2005.

List

A

* Janet Achurch, British actress, was born Janet Sharp; her mother died during childbirth and she was reared by her father William Prior Sharp, an insurance agent. She later adopted her maternal grandparents' surname (Achurch) as her professional name. (subscription required)
* Edie Adams, American actress and singer, was born Edith Elizabeth Enke to Sheldon Alonzo Enke and his wife, Ada Dorothy (née Adams), later adopting her mother's maiden name as her professional name.
* Maude Adams, American actress, was born Maude Ewing Kiskadden (or Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden) and adopted her mother's maiden name of Adams as her stage name.Adrian Room (2010)
''Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins''
McFarland; , ASIN: B009EEK4Y0; accessed December 12, 2014.
* András Adorján, Hungarian author and chess grandmaster; born as András Jocha (or Jocha András), he adopted his mother's maiden name, Adorján, at the age of 18, in 1968.
* Theodor Adorno, German sociologist, philosopher and musicologist known for his critical theory of society, was born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund to Oscar Alexander Wellington (1870–1946) and Maria Calvelli-Adorno della Piana (1865–1952). His mother wanted her son's paternal surname to be supplemented by the addition of her own surname/maiden name, Adorno. His earliest publications carried the name Theodor Wiesengrund-Adorno. Upon his application for United States citizenship, his name was modified to Theodor W. Adorno. He was also sometimes known by such aliases as Theodor Ludwig Adorno-Wellington and Theodor Ludwig Adorno-Wiesengrund before becoming a U.S. citizen.
* Ahn Jung-hwan, South Korean former football player and television personality.
* Priscilla Ahn, American singer-songwriter, was born Priscilla Natalie Hartranft. For her career, Ahn adopted her Korean mother's maiden name.
* Clay Aiken, American singer-songwriter, was born Clayton Holmes Grissom. Estranged from his birth father, Vernon Grissom, and with the permission of his mother (Faye Aiken Grissom) and his maternal grandfather (Alvis Aiken), Clay legally changed his surname from Grissom to Aiken at the age of 19.Aiken, Clay. '' Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life''. (2004) p. 56;
* Anna Akhmatova, Russian poet, born Anna Andreyevna Gorenko, adopted her great-grandmother's maiden name after her father objected to her vocation and called her writings "decadent" and did not want to see any verses printed under his "respectable" name.
* Svetlana Alliluyeva, daughter of Joseph Stalin, began using her mother's surname after her father's death in 1953.
* Clarence Ashley, American singer and musician, also known as Tom Ashley and Thomas Ashley, was born Clarence Earl McCurry in Bristol, Tennessee in 1895, the only child of George McCurry and Rose-Belle Ashley. Shortly before Clarence was born, Rose-Belle's father, Enoch Ashley, discovered that his son-in-law George was an adulterer. George was forced to leave town. Rose-Belle moved back in with her father. As he was raised by the parents of his mother, the name "McCurry" was dropped in favor of "Ashley".Joe Wilson, "Tom Ashley". In ''Greenback Dollar: The Music of Clarence "Tom" Ashley'' D liner notes County Records, 2001.
* Susan Ashton, American contemporary Christian musician, was born Susan Rae Hill, but elected to use her mother's maiden name as her professional surname to distinguish herself from another contemporary Christian singer, Kim Hill.
* Michael Ayrton, English artist and writer, was born Michael Gould. For professional purposes, he adopted his mother (Barbara Ayrton-Gould)'s maiden name.

B

* Jean Babilée, French ballet dancer and choreographer, was originally named Jean Gutmann but adopted his mother's maiden name for professional use.
* Lauren Bacall, American actress, was born Betty Joan Perske. After her parents divorced when she was a young child, she assumed her maternal grandmother's surname (also her mother's maiden name) of Bacal. She later added a second "l" to make the pronunciation clearer.
* Herbert Baker, American songwriter and screenwriter, was born Herbert Joseph Abrahams, to Belle Baker (born Bella Becker) and Maurice Abrahams. He later changed his surname and adopted that of his mother. He and she shared the same birthdate (December 25).
* Antonio Banderas, Spanish actor, was born José Antonio Domínguez Banderas. He dropped his first (paternal) surname (Domínguez), electing to use his second surname (his mother's maiden name, Banderas) as his acting name.
* Edith Barrett, American actress, born Edith Williams, adopted her mother's maiden name as her professional name. She was the granddaughter of Lawrence Barrett.
* Sir Brian Batsford, British painter, designer, publisher and Conservative Party politician, was originally named Brian Cook and used that name for his early artwork and in his first electoral candidacy. In June 1946, when he was 35 years old, he adopted his mother's maiden name of Batsford for business reasons at the request of an uncle. He sometimes joked that "Brian Cook ceased to exist" after World War II.
* Richard Bebb, English actor, born Richard Bebb Williams, he was obliged to change his surname (Williams) to avoid confusion with another player, and elected to use "Bebb", his mother's maiden name.
* Beck, born Bek David Campbell; now known as Beck Hansen. Adopted his mother's maiden name (Hansen) after his father was estranged from the family.
* Christine Belford (a.k.a. Christina Belford), American actress, was born Christine Riley in Amityville, Long Island, New York to Joseph J. Riley and Mary Belford Riley (née Wilson; later Malone), who later divorced. The actress adopted her mother's middle name (Belford), a family name, as her professional surname.Pack, Harvey "Christine Belford: Starlet of '72" Sarasota Herald-Tribune (July 2, 1972), page 47 (also available online at th
Google Books
newspaper archive)
* Peter Benenson, English activist, was born Peter James Henry Solomon in London to a Jewish family. He was the only son of Harold Solomon and Flora Benenson, Peter Benenson adopted his mother's maiden name later in life, reportedly in tribute to his maternal grandfather, the Russian financier Grigori Benenson (1860–1939), following the latter's death.
* David Benioff, American writer, was born David Friedman in New York City; he changed his surname to Benioff, his mother's maiden name.
*Robby Benson, American actor, was born Robin David Segal in Dallas, Texas, the son of Freda Ann (''née'' Benson), a singer, actress, and business promotions manager, and Jerry Segal, a writer. He was raised in New York City and took his mother's maiden name as his stage name when he was 10 years old.
* Jeannie Berlin, American actress, born Jeannie Brette May, to Marvin and Elaine (née Berlin) May.
* Wolfgang Bernhard, German businessman. Born Wolfgang Ayerle, he later took his mother's maiden name as his professional name.
* Regina Bianchi, Italian actress, born Regina D'Antigny, the daughter of two theater actors. She adopted, professionally, the surname of her paternal grandmother.
* Neil and Peter Billingsley, American actors, directors, and producers, born to Alwin Michaelsen, a financial consultant and Gail Billingsley, a niece of Stork Club owner Sherman Billingsley; the brothers have been known, alternatively, as Neil Billingsley-Michaelsen and Peter Billingsley-Michaelsen.
* Yelena Bonner, Soviet dissident and human rights activist, was born Lusik Georgievna Alikhanova to Georgy Alikhanov (né Gevork Alikhanyan) and Ruf Bonner, but changed her first name and chose to keep her mother's maiden name as her own surname through two marriages and until her death.
* Bimba Bosé, born Eleonora Salvatore González, Italian-born Spanish model, actress and singer, daughter of Spaniard Lucía González Bosé and her Italian first husband, Alessandro Salvatore. Her maternal grandmother was actress Lucia Bosé.Biografía
biosstars-mx.com; accessed 31 January 2017.
* Patricia Bosworth, American journalist, biographer and former actress and model, was born Patricia Crum in Oakland, California, the daughter of writer Anna Gertrude Bosworth and attorney Bartley Crum.
* Margaret Bourke-White, American photographer who was born Margaret White. In 1927, following a brief, failed marriage, she adopted her mother's maiden name ("Bourke") as part of her new hyphenated name, Bourke-White.
* Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish actor; born William Millar, he adopted his mother's maiden name as his professional surname.
* Jacqueline Boyer, French singer and actress, was born Jacqueline Ducos, the daughter of performers Jacques Pills (né René Jacques Ducos) and Lucienne Boyer, and adopted her mother's maiden name as her professional name.
* René Boylesve, French author whose birth name was René Marie Auguste Tardiveau, used his mother's maiden name in his pen name.
* Hercules Brabazon Brabazon, English artist, was born Hercules Brabazon Sharpe and adopted his mother's maiden name as his surname to inherit a family estate.
* Klaus Maria Brandauer was born Klaus Georg Steng (or Stenj), the son of Maria Brandauer and Georg Steng (or Georg Stenj). He subsequently adapted his mother's maiden name as his professional name.
* Pierre Brasseur, French actor, was born to actors Georges Espinasse and Germaine Brasseur. He adopted his mother's name as his professional surname. His grandfather, Jules Brasseur, was an actor as well. The family tradition of using the surname Brasseur was continued by Pierre's son, Claude, and Pierre's grandson Alexandre.
* Lisa Brenner, American actress, was born Lisa Dawn Goldstein, the daughter of Gloria (née Brenner), a dental assistant, and Harry Goldstein, a dentist. She adopted her mother's maiden name as her professional surname.
* Sir Francis Buller-Yarde-Buller, 2nd Bt. of Churston Court, British aristocrat, born to Sir Francis Buller and his wife, Susanna (née Yarde), he incorporated his mother's maiden name into his own. His own son and heir, John, changed the surname to Yarde-Buller, dropping the first "Buller", and the name has remained in this form ever since.
* Anthony Burgess, English writer, teacher and composer, born John Anthony Burgess Wilson to Joseph and Elizabeth (née Burgess) Wilson; he adopted his mother's maiden name as his professional name when he became a published author.
* Edd Byrnes, American actor, was born Edward Byrne Breitenberger. When he was 13 his father died. After this, he adopted a new surname (and future stage name) by altering his middle name "Byrne" in favor of "Byrnes", his mother's maiden name—the name of his maternal grandfather, a fireman.

C

* Christian Camargo, American actor and director, was born Christian Minnick in New York City, the son of actress Victoria Wyndham and grandson of actor Ralph Camargo. He adopted his mother's maiden name professionally.
* Helen Stuart Campbell, American social reformer and pioneer in the field of home economics, was born Helen Stuart, but made "Stuart" her middle name, adopting her mother's maiden name (Campbell) as her surname, for reasons which are unclear.
* Denis Cannan, British dramatist, playwright and script writer, was born Harold Denis Pullein-Thompson, the son of Captain Harold J. Pullein-Thompson and novelist Joanna Cannan, he later adopted his mother's maiden name as his own.
* Diana Canova, American actress, was born Diane Canova Rivero, the daughter of actress Judy Canova (née Juliette Canova) and musician Filberto Rivero. She adopted her mother's surname as her professional name.
* Bobby Capó, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter musician, born Félix Manuel Rodríguez. Born in Coamo, Puerto Rico, he adopted his stage name (Rodríguez is a common Hispanic surname, so he reportedly opted to use his mother's less common one, Capó, instead), and migrated to New York City early in the 1940s.
* Barbara Carrera, Nicaraguan-American model and socialite, was born Barbara Kingsbury in 1945 in San Carlos, Nicaragua. Her mother, Doña Florencia Carrera, was a native of Nicaragua, and her father, Louis Kingsbury, was an American employee of the United States embassy in Nicaragua. She changed her last name to her mother's surname after beginning her career as a model with the Eileen Ford agency.
* Igor and Oleg Cassini, born Igor Cassini Loiewski and Oleg Cassini Loiewski, respectively. Igor, the younger brother (1915–2002) was an American syndicated gossip columnist for the Hearst newspaper chain. Oleg, the elder brother (1913–2006), was a well-known American fashion designer. Both brothers adopted the maiden name of their mother, Countess Marguerite Cassini, an aristocrat of Russian and Italian descent.
* Leo Castelli, American art dealer, acquired his mother's maiden name of "Castelli", in place of his birth name of "Krausz" or "Krauss", as a child, when his birth city of Trieste was transferred from Austrian to Italian control.
* Alexander "Sandy" Chaplin, American actor, was born Alexander Gaberman. He and his wife Daisy (Harold Prince's daughter) changed their surnames to Daisy's mother (Judith Chaplin)'s name.
* Francis Charteris, 7th Earl of Wemyss, a Scottish peer, was the second son of James Wemyss, 5th Earl of Wemyss and his wife Janet, the daughter of Colonel Francis Charteris, whose surname Francis Wemyss adopted on 24 February 1732, legally changing his name to Francis Wemyss Charteris, upon inheriting the estates of his maternal grandfather.
* Chen Lijun, Chinese weightlifter.
* Eric Clapton, British musician and singer, was born in Ripley, Surrey, England, the son of 16-year-old Patricia Molly Clapton (b. 1929) and Edward Walter Fryer ( 1920 – 1985), a 24-year-old soldier from Montreal, Quebec.Profiles in Popular Music
p. 71. Sura Books (2005); retrieved 29 December 2010.
* Brian Connolly, Scottish musician, was born in 1945 in Govanhill, Glasgow. The identity of his father was never made public. His mother, Frances Connolly, was a teenaged waitress who left him in a Glasgow hospital. He was fostered, aged two, by Jim and Helen McManus of Blantyre and took their family name. In a radio interview, Connolly reported that singing was a large part of growing up since there was no television, and that he was regularly called upon to sing for family and friends. After inadvertently discovering his lineage he eventually reverted to the surname Connolly.
* Chris Cornell, American rock musician and singer ( Soundgarden, Audioslave) was born Christopher John Boyle. Following their parents' divorce, he and his siblings changed their surnames from Boyle to their mother's maiden name (Cornell).
* Constance Cummings, American-born British actress, was born Constance Halverstadt, the daughter of Dallas Vernon Halverstadt, a lawyer, and his wife, Kate Logan Cummings, a concert soprano.
* Peggy Cummins, Irish actress, born Augusta Margaret Diane Fuller in Prestatyn, Denbighshire, Wales, where she was born because her Irish parents happened to be there and a storm kept them from returning to their home in Dublin for her birth. Her mother was an actress in her own right, Margaret Cummins (1889–1973), whose name Peggy adopted as her own professionally.Peggy Cummins' interview with Louella Parsons, ''St. Petersburg Times'', 30 December 1945.
* Louise Currie, American actress, was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the daughter of Charles W. Gunter, a banker, and his wife, Louise (née Currie), whose maiden name she would take for her professional acting surname.
* Peter Theo Curtis, American journalist and released hostage, was born Peter Theophilus Eaton Padnos in Atlanta, Georgia to Michael Padnos and Nancy Curtis; he adopted his mother's surname after his parents separated.

D

* Ion Hartulari Darclée, Romanian composer, son of the celebrated Romanian operatic soprano Hariclea Darclée, also known as Hariclea Hartulari-Darclée, adopted his mother's maiden name which he added to his father's surname to create a compound surname.
* Jeremy Davies, American actor, born Jeremy Boring. He adopted his mother's maiden name as his professional name when he began acting.
* Patti Davis, American actress and daughter of President Ronald Reagan, born Patricia Ann Reagan, began using her mother's maiden name of "Davis" while she was a university student. In 2009, she told interviewer Tavis Smiley that she "had that famous kid thing of I just want my own identity" and that she chose her mother's maiden name for her new name "because I really didn't want to anger my parents."
* Bill de Blasio, born Warren Wilhelm Jr., is an American activist and politician. He was sworn in as the 109th Mayor of New York City on January 1, 2014. He was born to Warren and Maria (née de Blasio) Wilhelm in 1961 in Manhattan. His father was of German descent, and his maternal grandparents, Giovanni and Anna, were Italian immigrants. His family always called him "Bill" and he legally changed his name in 2001 to Bill de Blasio.
* Chris de Burgh, Anglo-Irish singer-songwriter, born Christopher John Davison in Venado Tuerto, Argentina, to Colonel Charles Davison, a British diplomat, and Maeve Emily de Burgh, a native of Ireland; he later adopted his mother's maiden name as his professional surname.
* Yvonne De Carlo, Canadian-American actress and singer, was born Margaret Yvonne Middleton. She was not yet three years old when her father abandoned the family. Left on her own, her mother returned to using her maiden name, Marie De Carlo, and the actress later took "De Carlo" for her own career.
* Elvira de Hidalgo, Spanish operatic soprano, was born Valderrobres, Teruel Province, Spain as Elvira Juana Rodríguez Roglán, daughter of Pedro Rodríguez Hidalgo and Miguela Roglán Bel. Elvira adopted her paternal grandmother's surname as her professional name.
* Albert Dekker, American actor, was born Albert Van Ecke in Brooklyn, New York; he adopted his mother's maiden name of Dekker as his stage name.
* Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitar player, was born Francisco Gustavo Sánchez Gomes. "In the documentary ''Paco de Lucía - Light and Shade: A Portrait'', he tells how, when he was playing in the streets as a young boy, there were many Pacos and Pablos in Andalusia taking this into consideration and ... e... wanted to honor isPortuguese mother Lucia úciaGomes, Paco took his stage name ''Paco de Lucía''".
* Pepe de Lucía, born José Sánchez Gomes, Spanish flamenco singer and songwriter. One of the five children born to flamenco guitarist Antonio Sánchez Pecino and his Portuguese wife, Lúcia Gomes, Pepe, like his brother, Paco, adopted his professional name to honor their mother.
* Catherine Deneuve, French actress, was born Catherine Fabienne Dorléac. When she was to appear in a movie with her elder sister, Françoise Dorléac, she adopted the surname of her mother, actress Renée Simonot (born Jeanne Renée Deneuve) to distinguish herself from her sister.
* Tamara Desni, born Tamara Brodsky, was a German-born British actress, the daughter of actress Xenia Desni. She adopted her mother's surname."Tamara Desni"
''The Telegraph'' (15 February 2008); retrieved 29 September 2010.
* Patrick Dewaere, born either Patrick Jean Marie Henri Bourdeaux or Jean-Marie Patrick Bourdeau, and known professionally as Patrick Maurin, he finally opted for the stage surname Dewaere, which was his grandmother's maiden name.
* Xavier Dolan, Canadian actor, director and screenwriter; the son of Quebec actor Manuel Tadros and Geneviève Dolan, a teacher; he adopted his mother's maiden name as his professional name.
* Arielle Dombasle, American actress; born Arielle Laure Maxime Sonnery de Fromental, to Jean-Louis Melchior Sonnery de Fromental, a silk manufacturer, and his wife, Francion Garreau-Dombasle. The Dombasle surname came into existence in 1912, when Arielle's grandfather, René Sonnery (1887–1925), an industrialist from Lyon, married Anne-Marie Berthon du Fromental. In memory of her mother who died at the age of 36, Arielle took the pseudonym ''Arielle Dombasle''.
* Melvyn Douglas, American actor; born Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg to Lena Priscilla (née Shackelford) and Edouard Gregory Hesselberg, he adopted his maternal grandmother's maiden name (Douglas) as his professional and legal name.
* Eddie Dowling, American actor and producer, was born Joseph N. Goucher; he adopted the maiden name of his mother (Bridget Mary Dowling) as his stage surname.
* Brian Doyle-Murray, American actor, voice artist, comedian and screenwriter; born as Brian Murray, Doyle is his grandmother's maiden name, which he added to his surname by hyphenation as there was already an actor known as Brian Murray (born Brian Bell).
* Charlie Drake, British actor and comedian, was born Charles Edward Springall in Elephant and Castle, Southwark. He later took his mother's maiden name for the stage and, later, television and film, achieving success as a comedian.
* Genevieve Driscoll, born Alma Genevieve Rubens to a Jewish father and a Catholic mother, she became a silent film actress known as Alma Rubens. Some biographies erroneously state that her birth name was Genevieve Driscoll, however, that name was a pseudonym that she later used in a non-professional capacity (Genevieve was her middle name and Driscoll was her maternal grandmother's maiden name).
* Zélia Duncan, born Zélia Cristina Gonçalves Moreira, is a Brazilian singer and composer. She adopted the surname "Duncan" (her mother's maiden name) professionally.
* Michael Dunn, born Gary Neil Miller, he changed his surname to Dunn (his maternal grandmother's maiden name) as there was already one performer in the actor's union with the name Gary Miller; it is unknown why he changed his first name to Michael.
* Shaila Dúrcal, born Shaila de los Ángeles Morales de las Heras, the daughter of Spanish singer Rocío Dúrcal and Filipino singer, Antonio Morales, known professionally as Junior Morales. Shaila adopted her mother's professional surname (Dúrcal) as her own, professionally if not legally.

E

* Biddy Early, Irish herbalist, accused by some of being a witch, was born in County Clare and baptised Bridget Ellen Connors. Her parents were John Thomas Connors, a poor farmer, and his wife Ellen (née Early). She later adopted her mother's maiden name and was known as Biddy (a nickname for Bridget) Early for most of her life.
* John Elwes, English politician (birth name "Meggot") was born on 7 April 1714 into a respectable English family. His father, Robert Meggot, was a respected Southwark brewer and his grandfather was Sir George Meggot, MP for that same borough. His mother, Amy (née Elwes), was the granddaughter of Sir Gervase Elwes, 1st Baronet and MP for Suffolk (see Elwes baronets).
* Aaron and Ethan Embry, American songwriter/record producer and actor brothers — born Ethan Philan Randall and Aaron Randall, respectively, they adopted the maiden name of their mother, Karen Embry, a screenwriter and talent manager.

F

* Maude Fealy (1883–1971), actress, was born as Maude Mary Hawk in Memphis, Tennessee; her mother was actress/acting coach Margaret Fealy.
* Felix Fibich, Polish-born American actor, dancer, choreographer and teacher, born Fajwel Goldblatin in 1917 in Warsaw, Poland (then part of Imperial Russia). He adopted Fibich, his maternal grandmother's surname, as his professional name.
* Ruth Fischer (1895–1961), co-founder of the Austrian Communist Party in 1918, was born Elfriede Eisler in Leipzig, the daughter of Rudolf Eisler, a professor of philosophy, and his wife, Marie (née Fischer). According to secret information declassified in 2010, she was a key agent of the American intelligence service known as "The Pond".
* Tara Fitzgerald, British actress, born Anne Tara Callaby in Cuckfield, Sussex to Irish portrait photographer Sarah Geraldine Fitzgerald and English artist Michael Callaby. When she was still a child her family moved to Freeport, Bahamas, where her maternal grandfather, David Fitzgerald, practised law. Her parents divorced after returning to England when Tara was three years old; she uses her mother's surname.
* Margot Fonteyn, British ballerina, was born Margaret Hookham. Her stage name, which she first used when she made her professional debut at the age of 15, was adapted from her first name and her mother's maiden name.
* Brenda and Ralph Forbes, British-born American stage and film actors (siblings) were born to E. J. Taylor and actress Mary Forbes; they adopted their mother's surname professionally.
* J.D. Fortune (aka Jason Dean Fortune), Canadian rock singer and songwriter; born Jason Dean Benninson, he adopted his mother's maiden name as his own surname.
* Anthony Franciosa, American actor, was born Anthony George Papaleo to Italian-American parents; raised by his mother and aunt, he adopted his mother's maiden name (Franciosa) as his professional name.
* Victoria Fyodorova was a Russian-American actress and author. She was born shortly after World War II to U.S. Admiral Jackson Tate (1898–1978) and Russian actress Zoya Fyodorova (1909–1981); the couple had had a brief affair before Tate was expelled from Moscow by Joseph Stalin. She wrote the 1979 book, ''The Admiral's Daughter'' about her experience attempting to reunite with her father.

G

* Troy Garity, American actor and social activist, born Troy O'Donovan Hayden, is the son of Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden. His professional surname, Garity, is the maiden name of his paternal grandmother.Profile of Troy Garity
tribute.ca; accessed September 24, 2014.
* Elizabeth Garner, Scottish-born Dominica-based writer, socialite and politician, was born Elma Gordon-Cumming, the eldest of five siblings born to Sir William Gordon-Cumming and his wife, Florence Josephine (née Garner; 1870–1922). She adopted her mother's maiden name (Garner) as a pen name."People: Elma Napier"
''Domnitjen magazine'', Volume 2, Issue 2.
* David Garrett, German classical violinist, was born David Bongartz, the son of a German jurist and an American prima ballerina; he later adopted his mother's maiden name as his own.
* Theodor Geisel, American writer, based his pen name of Dr. Seuss, which was his mother's maiden name (Henrietta Seuss).
* Troy Gentile, American actor ('' The Goldbergs''), born Troy Francis Farshi, adopted his mother (Debbie Gentile)'s maiden surname.
* Ryan Giggs, Welsh footballer, was born Ryan Joseph Wilson, but at age 16 legally adopted his mother's maiden name as his professional surname.
* Cherie and Mark Gil, Filipino acting siblings, born Evangeline Rose Gil Eigenmann and Raphael Joseph De Mesa Eigenmann, respectively. The children of actors Eddie Mesa and Rosemarie Gil, Cherie and Mark adopted their mother's maiden name professionally.
* Bartholomew Gill, Irish-American writer, was born Mark C. McGarrity; he adopted his maternal grandfather's name as his pen name.
* John Gilroy, for whom the town of Gilroy, California is named, was born John Cameron. After deserting from his ship, the ''Isaac Todd'', in Monterey, California, in 1814, he adopted his mother's maiden name as his own in an ultimately successful ruse to avoid being retaken. When he later was received into the Roman Catholic faith, he was baptized as Juan Bautista María Gilroy.
* Paulette Goddard, American film actress, born with the surname Levy, she adopted her mother (Alta Goddard)'s maiden name professionally.
* Gale Gordon, American actor, was born Charles Thomas Aldrich, Jr., in New York City to American vaudevillian Charles Thomas Aldrich and his wife, English actres
Gloria Gordon
he adopted his mother's professional surname "Gordon" (her professional name; she was born Bertha St Leger Palliser Wilson), when he became an actor himself.
* Ariana Grande, American singer, was born Ariana Grande-Butera, choosing her matriname to be her stage name.
* Glen Gray, American jazz saxophonist and bandleader, was born, most likely in Roanoke, Illinois, to Lurdie P. Knoblauch and Agnes Gray. His father was a lifelong railroad worker who died when Glen was two years of age. His widowed mother married George H. DeWilde.

H

* Cosmo Hamilton, English playwright and novelist, was the pen name of Henry Charles Hamilton Gibbs, aka Cosmo Gibbs, an English playwright and novelist whose mother's maiden name was Hamilton.
* David Hamilton, British radio and TV presenter, was born David Pilditch, but took up his mother's maiden name as his surname after he was advised that his real name would be difficult for audiences to remember.
* Jean Harlow, American actress, was born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; Jean Harlow had been her mother's maiden name.
* Samantha Harris, American model, and television presenter/personality. Born Samanthan Harris Shapiro; she adopted her mother's maiden name (Harris) as her professional name.
* Lilian Harvey, English-born actress and singer, who spent many years in Germany, was born Helene Lilian Muriel Pape. Her mother was English and her father was a German businessman. She began her career by attending the dance and voice school of the Berlin State Opera, later adopting her maternal grandmother's maiden name (Harvey) as her professional name.
* Rita Hayworth, American actress and dancer, was born Margarita Carmen Cansino and appeared in her first 10 movies under the name Rita Cansino. Subsequently, under the tutelage of her first husband and manager, she altered her physical appearance and adopted the maiden name of her mother (Volga Hayworth) so as to no longer be perceived solely as an exotic or ethnic Latina.
* Mlle Hervez, French actress; born Geneviève Béjart, she later adopted a variation of her mother's maiden name (Hervé) as her stage name.
* Dana Hill, American film, television and voice actress; born Dana Lynne Goetz, she adopted her mother's maiden name (Hill) as her professional acting name in the 1970s to avoid the appearance of nepotism as her father worked in the entertainment industry.
* Marianna Hill, American film and television actress; born as Marianna Schwarzkopf, to architect Frank Schwarzkopf and writer Mary Hawthorne Hill. She adopted her mother's maiden surname as her professional surname.
* Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, QPM, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (of London; as of 2012); former Chief Constable of the Merseyside Police, former Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, and one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary. Hogan-Howe was born in Sheffield in 1957, the son of Bernard Howe. He was brought up by his mother, whose maiden name (Hogan) he later added by Deed poll.
* Lyndsie Holland, English actress and singer, born Margaret Foster. She took her stage name from her two maternal grandmothers."Sadness at acclaimed Stourbridge-born singer's death"
''Stourbridge News'', 16 April 2014; accessed 10 June 2014.
* Hua Chunying, Chinese diplomat, the spokesperson of China, and the director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department of China.
* Olivia Hussey, British actress, was born Olivia Osuna in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Joy Alma (née Hussey), a British legal secretary, and Andrés Osuna (aka Osvaldo Ribó), an Argentine musician; the couple divorced when Olivia was two years old.

I

* Peter Igelhoff, Austrian pianist, light music and film composer/arranger, and entertainer, was born Rudolf August Ordnung on 22 July 1904 in Vienna. He changed his forename and took his mother's maiden name as his surname after he resolved on a career in music. He died on 8 April 1978, aged 73, in Bad Reichenhall.
* Frieda Inescort (born Frieda Wrightman), Scottish film and stage actress, who adopted her mother (actress Elaine Inescort)'s surname as her own professional name.Frieda Inescort biodata
imdb.com; accessed 10 June 2014.

J

* Ernst Jansen Steur (born Ernst Nicolaas Herman Jansen; 24 October 1945), is a Dutch former neurologist, who garnered notoriety for misconduct in both the Netherlands and Germany, and lost his license to practice medicine.
* Anne Jeffreys, American actress and singer, was born Annie Jeffreys Carmichael; she adopted her mother (Kate McDonald Jeffreys)'s maiden name professionally.
* Jin Sha, Chinese singer and actress.
* Norah Jones, American singer-songwriter, was born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar to Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar and concert producer Sue Jones; she changed her name at the age of 16.
* Penny Jordan, née Penelope Jones, aka Annie Groves, was a best-selling and prolific English writer of over 200 romance novels. She started writing regency romances as Caroline Courtney, and wrote contemporary romances as Penny Jordan and historical romances as Annie Groves (her mother's maiden name).
* Louis Jourdan, French actor, was born as Louis Robert Gendre in Marseille, the son of Yvonne (née Jourdan) and Henry Gendre.
* Ashley Judd, American actress and political activist, was born Ashley Tyler Ciminella, the daughter of Naomi Judd, a country music singer and motivational speaker, and Michael Charles Ciminella, a marketing analyst for the horseracing industry.

K

* Teruyuki Kagawa, Japanese actor, kabuki actor and boxing commentator. His parents divorced in 1968 and his mother was given the custody of him.
* Garry Kasparov, Russian chess champion, was born Garry Kimovich WeinsteinBiography
on Kasparov.ru site in the former Azerbaijan SSR to an Armenian mother and a Jewish father. When Garry was seven years old, his father died of leukemia"Kasparov: The World's Chess Champion"
by Anne Kressler. ''Azerbaijan International'' (3.3) Autumn 1995 (accessed 31 March 2008) and five years later he adopted his Armenian mother's maiden name, Gasparyan, which he modified to the more Russian-sounding "Kasparov".
* Diane Keaton, American actress, was originally named Diane Hall, but could not use that name professionally as it belonged to another actress, so she selected her own mother's maiden name as her professional surname.
* Minka Kelly, American actress, was born in Los Angeles, California, the only child of former Aerosmith guitarist Rick Dufay and the late Maureen Dumont Kelly. Minka and her mother moved to various communities before settling in Chicago by the time Kelly was in junior high school. She adopted her mother's maiden name as her professional name.
* Barbara Kent, Canadian-American film actress, was born Barbara Cloutman in Gadsby, Alberta to Jullion Curtis and Lily Louise (née Kent) Cloutman. She later adopted her mother's maiden name as her professional name.
* Mark Kermode, British film critic, whose original surname was Fairey. He changed his name by deed poll after his parents divorced.
* Olga Kern, Russian classical pianist whose original surname was Pushechnikova.
* Imran Khan (Indian-American actor) was born Imran Pal. After his father (Anil Pal) and mother (Nuzhat Khan) divorced he took his mother's maiden name as his legal name.
* Sophie Kinsella, British author, was born Madeleine Sophie Townley. She later adopted her pen name, Sophie Kinsella (which was taken from her middle name and her mother's maiden name).Profile
notablebiographies.com; accessed 12 December 2015.
* Ted Kravitz, British television sports reporter, was born Theodore Slotover.

L

* Harry Landers, American actor, was born in New York City to parents Jacob and Rose (née Landers) Sorokin, who were Jewish immigrants from Russia. He was the third-oldest out of seven children. He later adopted his mother's maiden name.
* Katherine Kelly Lang, American actress, was born Katherine Kelly Wegeman. She is the daughter of Olympic ski-jumper Keith R. Wegeman and actress Judith Lang and the granddaughter of Oscar-winning cinematographer Charles Lang

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