Emma Stone | Emily Jean Stone

Emma Stone’s real name isn’t “Emma.” She had to change it to advance her acting career. She was born Emily Jean Stone and she was 16 years old at the time when she realized that there was another actress with the same name in the Screen Actors Guild. She then chose to change her first name to stand out from the crowd.

Stone claims a different story behind the invention of her stage name, and it’s right in line with her personality. Her obsession with the Spice Girls influenced the name she would use professionally for the rest of her life. She was incredibly blonde growing up, and her real name was Emily, but she wanted to be nicknamed Emma because of Baby Spice. Moreover, Stone is a major Spice Girls fan, and she talks about the band more than her credits these days and believes they taught her everything she knows about “female strength.”