25 celebrities whose real names will surprise you

NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 28: Recording artist Miley Cyrus attends the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for NARAS)

Miley Cyrus (Destiny Hope Cyrus)

We’ve watched Miley Cyrus grow up over the years, from a bright-eyed Disney star to a wild, weed-advocating and twerking pop star to the more subdued artist she is now with her latest album, Younger Now. We may have fallen in love with Miley as Hannah Montana, but did you know she really was living a double life?

Okay, it wasn’t quite as intense as Hannah’s double life on the Disney channel show, but Miley was using a fake name for years. Her real name was Destiny Hope Cyrus, which really explains a lot.

Even though her parents gave her such a hippy-dippy name, they often called her “Smiley” because, well, she smiled a lot. Smiley became Smiley Miley, which then became Miley, and it stuck.

It wasn’t until 2008 that she legally changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus, an homage to her father Billy Ray, but, like Portia de Rossi, she was 15 when she made the decision.