Could you imagine the size of the identity crisis that comes with finding out your name was not really your name…Well, the Goddess of Pop, Cher, knows the feeling.
The American pop icon recently revealed that she found out her real name wasn’t Cherilyn, which is what she had thought her name was all her life, when she went to legally change it to Cher.
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She revealed this in her memoir
In her memoir, Cher: The Memoir, Part One, which only came out November of 2024, the star mentioned the time she found out her real birth name.
She had spent all her life thinking her true birth name was Cherilyn.
Cher’s real name is Cheryl
“I believed Cherilyn was my name until the day years later when I decided to legally change my name to simply Cher,” the artist shared in her book.
The 78-year-old found out her real name was actually Cheryl, not Cherilyn.
Her mother had gone into a difficult labor
In 1946, when Cher was born, her mother, who was 19 years old at the time, had gone into unexpected labor a month before the due date, and it was an unmedicated and exhausting one.
“She was exhausted by the time I arrived at around 7:30 a.m. on Monday, May 20,” the star shared.
There was a birth certificate mix-up
Cher learnt her real name was Cheryl when she had to present her birth certificate as part of the process for changing the name.
What happened was a misunderstanding between her mother and the hospital nurse who was asking for a name after an exhausting labor.
Her mother picked the name on a whim
“My mother had no idea, but the woman insisted so she replied, “Well, Lana Turner’s my favorite actress and her little girl’s called Cheryl. My mother’s name is Lynda, so how about Cherilyn?” the Grammy winner wrote in her memoir.
The mention of both names caused the misunderstanding between Cher’s mother and the nurse.
Cher asked her mother about the incident
When asked about the mishap, the pop star’s mother responded, “I was only a teenager, and I was in a lot of pain. Give me a break.”
Cher changed her full name in 1979 and revealed why she had done so in the same year.
The pop star legally changed her full name
In the late ‘70s, Cher didn’t just change her first name but also dropped her surnames, which were her birth surname, Sarkisian, as well as the surnames of her stepfather Gilbert LaPiere and her ex-husbands Sonny Bono and Gregg Allman.
She didn’t want any confusion
When asked about the reason behind the change on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, the singer said, “I like it.”
“It’s better for me than having people wonder if they should call me Mrs. Allman or Mrs. Bono or Mrs. Bono Allman or Miss Cher or whatever,” she added.
It was the ideal name for Cher
The Goddess of Pop reiterated her love for the single name, “I mean, Cher is just fine. Just plain Cher.”
With four surnames things can get a bit tangled up, and the American star clearly likes things simple and easy.
Cher’s memoir is full of gems
In her memoir, the singer and actress also shares many other discoveries, revelations, and thoughts.
These include the reasons behind divorcing Gregg Allman after only nine days of marriage and the only time another celebrity broke up with her.
