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Emma Stone reveals why she stopped using her real name

Emma Stone has revealed the reason why she goes by Emma Stone, and not Emily, which is the name actually on her birth certificate.

Appearing on The Tonight Show in the US, she opened up about the hilarious reason.

“I was super blonde, and my real name is Emily, but I wanted to be called Emma because of Baby Spice and guess what, now I am,” she told Jimmy Fallon.

“So, that’s pretty messed up.”

Emma Stone is not the name on her birth certificate. Photo: Getty Images
Emma Stone is not the name on her birth certificate. Photo: Getty Images

“It wasn’t necessarily because of her,” she added, but then explained that, yes, it pretty much was entirely because of her.

“But yes, in second grade, did I go up to the teacher and ask her to call me Emma? Yes I did.

“And was it because of Emma Lee Bunton from the Spice Girls? Yes it was.”

Emma, then Emily, loved the Spice Girls. Photo: Getty
Emma, then Emily, loved the Spice Girls. Photo: Getty

There were other options, however, when she decided to give acting a proper go, aged 16. She said she had the option of Emily J. Stone – “kind of like Michael J. Fox, and I love Michael J. Fox”. But she didn’t think she could pull it off.

“So then I changed it to Emma because, you know, it’s closer to Emily, but most people call me Em that know me well,” she added. “I would love to get her back.”

She’s previously spoken about the struggles of choosing a name as a young star.

“Well, I was 16 when I found out at SAG I couldn’t have my own name,” she told W Magazine.

“So to ask a 16 year old to pick a new name is really an interesting process because I was like, ‘I’m going to be Riley. My name is going to be Riley Stone.’

“And so my name was Riley Stone for about six months and I did a guest spot on Malcolm in the Middle and one day they were like, ‘Riley, Riley,’ and I had no idea who they were talking to and they were like, ‘Hey, hey come on we need you on set.’ And I was like, ‘Oh I’m not Riley, I can’t be Riley.’”

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