25 celebrities whose real names will surprise you

ANAHEIM, CA – JULY 15: Actor Mindy Kaling of A WRINKLE IN TIME took part today in the Walt Disney Studios live action presentation at Disney’s D23 EXPO 2017 in Anaheim, Calif. A WRINKLE IN TIME will be released in U.S. theaters on March 9, 2018. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Mindy Kaling (Vera Mindy Chokalingam)

Mindy Kaling’s first name might legally be Vera, but she’s never been called that before. At least, not on television!

Her parents selected her middle name as Mindy, after the show Mork & Mindy, because they had plans to move to the US and wanted their daughter to have a more American name to use (and she has even pointed out that Vera, to her parents, wasn’t an American name, as linked above, so Mindy it was). They apparently called her Mindy ever since her mom first got pregnant.

And it’s not hard to see how Mindy got “Kaling” for a last name. It’s just a shortened version of Chokalingam! Sometimes celebs just have to make it easier for silly Americans to pronounce properly.

Since, Mindy has given her stage surname to her daughter, Katherine, who could go by the extremely cute name Katie Kaling if she so desired when she’s a little older.