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.Supreme Court of New Jersey, Gubernat v. Deremer, opinion delivered by J. Stein, 11 May 1995. 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 [your birth name] is 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."Mari Lyn Henry and Lynne Rogers (2008). How to be a Working Actor (5th Edition): The Insider's Guide to Finding Jobs in Theater, Film, and Television, Random House; , .

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.Dinega, Alyssa (2001) A Russian Psyche: The Poetic Mind of Marina Tsvetaeva, University of Wisconsin Press, p. 224; . Svetlana Alliluyeva, daughter of Joseph Stalin, began using her mother's surname after her father's death in 1953.Andrew Jenks, "Review of Svetlana About Svetlana" , Educational Media Reviews Online, 8 June 2009; accessed 17 February 2011. 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 [CD 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.Susan Ashton profile at the Country Music Television (CMT) website; accessed February 26, 2011. 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).Herbert Baker papers (1939-1978), cdlib.org; accessed January 19, 2016. 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.Charles Brackett, The New Yorker, November 6, 1926, p. 34. 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.Peter Seddon, "The Colourful World of graphic artist Brian Cook (1910-1991)", derbyshire.greatbritishlife.co.uk, 4 August 2010; accessed 12 December 2014. 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.Beck Hansen stage names. "He prefers to go by Beck Hansen now. Hansen is his mother's maiden name, which Beck adopted after his father became estranged from the rest of the family. His being called simply Beck is a sort of promotional thing that started in his early, small club-playing days. The 'c' was added to Beck by various people over the span of his life." 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 the 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.Peter Benenson profile , moreorless.au.com; accessed 12 December 2014. 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. Sara Berner, American actress, born Lillian Ann Herdan, to Sam and Sarah Herdan. She adopted her mother's first name and maiden name as her stage name. Wolfgang Bernhard, German businessman. Born Wolfgang Ayerle, he later took his mother's maiden name as his professional name.Columbia Business School profile: Wolfgang Bernhard , Gsb.columbia.edu; accessed 12 December 2014.Wolfgang Bernhard profile, notablebiographies.com; accessed 18 April 2014. Regina Bianchi, Italian actress, born Regina D'Antigny, the daughter of two theater actors. She adopted, professionally, the surname of her paternal grandmother.