Jennifer may be her first name, but America's sweetheart was born with a very different last name: Anatassakis.

Jennifer Linn Anastassakis was born on Feb. 11, 1969 to Greek parents John and Nancy Anastassakis. Aspiring actors, John and Nancy changed their family name to "Aniston" on the advice of Jennifer's godfather, actor Telly Savalas. It worked. John Aniston landed a role on "Days of Our Lives."

Hollywood is rife with stars who were born with different names--some of which are wildly different than the name with which their parents blessed them at birth. Here is a list of some of them. The singer or actor's real name is in parenthesis following the name by which you know them.

Whoa! That's Wildly Different
Adam Ant (Stuart Leslie Goddard)
Lauren Bacall (Betty Joan Perske)
Brigitte Bardot (Camille Javal)
Yul Brynner (Taidje Khan)
Patsy Cline (Virginia Patterson Hensley)
Joan Crawford (Lucille Le Sueur)
Rodney Dangerfield (Jacob Cohen)
Whoopi Goldberg (Caryn Elaine Johnson)
Macy Gray (Natalie Renee McIntyre)
Courtney Love (Love Michelle Harrison)
Omar Sharif (Michael Shalhoub)
Gene Simmons (Chaim Witz)
Tammy Wynette (Virginia Pugh)

This Name Has More Panache
Tori Amos (Myra Ellen Amos)
Lisa Bonet (Lisa Boney)
Bob Dylan (Robert Zimmerman)
Dennis Franz (Dennis Schlachta Maywood)
Billie Holiday (Eleanora Fagan)
Elton John (Reginald Kenneth Dwight)
James Earl Jones (Todd Jones)
Ted Knight (Tadeus Wladyslaw Konopka)
Ann Landers (Esther "Eppie" Pauline Friedman Lederer)
Demi Moore (Demetria Gene Guynes)
Lou Diamond Phillips (Lou Upchurch)
Franco Zeffirelli (Gianfranco Corsi)

Who Needs a Last Name?
Aaliyah  (Aeliyatt Dana Houghton)
Ashanti (Ashanti Shaquoya Douglas)
Beyoncé (Beyoncé Giselle Knowles)
Brandy (Brandy Rayonda Norwood)
Charo (Maria Rosario Pila Martinez Molina Baeza)
Cher (Cherilyn Sarkasian La Pierre)
Enya (Eithne Ni Bhraonian)
Liberace (Wladziu Lee Valentino)
Nelly (Cornell Haynes Jr.)
Pink (Alecia Moore)
Sade (Helen Folasade Adu)
Seal (Henry Olusegun Olumide Samuel)
Sinbad (David Atkins)
Twiggy (Leslie Hornby)

It's Too Long!
Desi Arnaz (Desiderio Albert Arnaz y De Acha III)
Chaka Kahn (Carole Yvette Marie Stevens)
Jane Russell (Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell)
Meg Ryan (Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra)
Kiefer Sutherland (William Frederick Dempsey George Sutherland)
Tiny Tim (Herbert Buckingham Khaury)
Stevie Wonder (Steveland Hardaway Judkins)

Maybe You Should Have Kept Your Real Name
Diane Sawyer (Lila Sawyer)
Tuesday Weld (Susan Kerr Wells)

What Happened to Ethnic Pride?
Fred Astaire (Frederick Austerlitz)
Pat Benatar (Patricia Andrzejewski)
Charles Bronson (Charles Dennis Bunchinsky)
Mel Brooks (Melvin Kaminsky)
Doris Day (Doris von Kappelhoff)
Danny Kaye (David Kaminski)
Larry King (Larry Zeigler)
Michael Landon (Eugene Orowitz)
Penny Marshall (Carole Penny Maschiarelli)
Dean Martin (Dino Crocetti)
Ricky Martin (Enrique Jose Martin Morales)
Walter Matthau (Walter Matuschanskayasky)
Danny Thomas (Muzyad Yakhoob)
Jennifer Tilly (Jennifer Chan)
Gene Wilder (Jerome Silberman)

--From the Editors at Netscape