Whoopi Goldberg is showing her support for Malia Obama.
Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's oldest daughter raised some eyebrows when it was noted that she is choosing to drop her famous last name and professionally go by Malia Ann on her latest project The Heart.
"Apparently some folks online are criticizing her for it," the View host said during the Feb. 21 episode, "claiming everyone knows she's an Obama, so it's pointless to hide it."
But, as Whoopi noted, Malia is hardly the first person to change her name Hollywood. In fact, Whoopi herself changed her name from Caryn Elaine Johnson as her career took off.
"If she knows she's an Obama, why do you care? Why do you care what she calls herself?" she continued. "If she wanted to call herself Jeanette MacDonald, she has the right to! If I can be Whoopi Goldberg, she can be whoever the hell she wants to be!"
And the Sister Act star certainly doesn't understand why it's such a BFD to some.
"I mean why are people triggered by this kind of stuff?" she said. "Why are people wasting their time?"
"Leave this child alone," Whoopi added. "Leave her alone."
And her cohosts agree. While Sara Haines noted that with the last name Obama, everything "probably harkens her parents," Alyssa Farah Griffin pointed out, the Harvard grad was truly in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation.
Not that the 25-year-old is fazed. After all, her career is skyrocketing after her directorial debut The Heart premiered at Sundance and she added a staff writer credit on the Amazon Prime show Swarm to her resume.
And, according to show creator Donald Glover, parents didn't play a role in how she was treated on set.
"I feel like she's just somebody who's gonna have really good things coming soon. Her writing style is great," Donald told Vanity Fair in March 2022. With his brother Stephen Glover adding, "We can't be easy on her just because she's the [former] President's daughter."
Keep reading for more stars who have opted to change their names.
Austin Richard Post
Congratulations to Post Malone, who incorporated his surname into his stage name. However, the rapper does prefer his close friends to call him by his real name.
During the 2024 MTV VMAs, Taylor Swift referred to him as "Austin" when they won the Best Collaboration award for their duet "Fortnight."
Aubrey Frances Anderson-Emmons
Though she portrayed Lilly on Modern Family under the name Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, the actress changed her moniker to Frances Anderson mark her era as a musician.
“Frances is actually part of my legal name—it’s my middle name, and it’s after my mom’s old family friend,” she explained in a 2025 E! News interview. “I thought, one, it was a bit shorter than ‘Aubrey Anderson-Emmons.’ I do have a long, hyphenated last name.”
William Carl Radke
The Summer House star shocked Bravo fans by revealing his legally given first name isn't actually Carl.
"My I.D. and my passport—my first name is William," Carl—who has appeared on the reality show for all nine seasons—he told PopViewers in August 2025. "So, my middle name is Carl, but I've always, since day one, been called Carl."
Sterling Kelby Brown
Sterling K. Brown went by his middle name Kelby until he was a teenager.
"My dad's name is Sterling Brown Jr., my grandfather is Sterling Brown Sr.,” he said during an April 2025 appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show. "I wanted my own name and it felt like Sterling was an old man's name."
But years after his dad died from a heart attack, the This Is Us alum decided to revert back to his first name as a way to honor his father.
"Because he passed away when I was 10, by the time I turned 16 and I hadn't heard his name for five, five-and-a-half years,” he continued. “I was like, ‘I kinda just want to hear that name again.’ So I asked people to call me Sterling."
Andrew Mignogna, Matthew Mignogna & Joey Mignogna
Andrew Lawrence, Matthew Lawrence and Joey Lawrence adopted a new last name in their careers. Joey—whose middle name is Lawrence—was the first to do so after a talent agent criticized the family surname.
Katherine Victoria Litwack
Kat Dennings adopted a stage name at age 9, years before she made her official onstage acting debut on a 2000 episode of Sex and the City.
The 2 Broke Girls alum told Kylie Kelce on the March 13, 2025 episode of her podcast Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelce that she didn't think her real name name should "be displayed on a poster."
The actress drew inspiration for her stage name from Christina Ricci's character Kat in the film Casper as well as the surname of Janine Denni, the French wife of late The Black Cauldron author Lloyd Alexander, a writer she said was her mother's best friend.
Cheryl Sarkisian
For more than three decades, Cher was made to believe that her legal first name was Cherilyn. It wasn't until the late '70s, when she obtained her birth certificate in order to change her full name to just Cher, that she discovered that she had been registered as "Cheryl."
In her 2024 memoir, Cher: The Memoir, Part One, the pop icon recalled her mom Georgia Holt's reaction to this discovery.
She said her mother, who gave birth to her at age 19, responded, "Let me look at that!" and then, recalling her postpartum experience, added, "I was only a teenager, and I was in a lot of pain. Give me a break."
Collins Obinna Chibueze
The outlaw country star adopted Shaboozey as his nickname and later used it as his official alias as a music artist after his Virginia high school misspelled his surname that way.
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson
Though the singer initially released a Christian album under her birth name in 2001, she felt the stage name Katy Perry—inspired by her mom's maiden name—might meet pop fans more in awe, awe, awe.
Belcalis Almanzar
Cardi B took on the name Bacardi after family and friends started calling her sister Hennessy. Later on she shortened the name to something that suited her quite a bit more.
Rachel Meghan Markle
Before she became the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle was briefly known as Rachel.
Eilleen Regina Edwards
Shania Twain shared the origin story of her stage name during an appearance on Apple Music's Home Now Radio: "In short, I was born, Eilleen Regina Edwards, and then I was adopted and I became Eilleen Regina Twain. Then I became a professional singer and I needed a stage name that sounded a little less like my grandmother's name, because I'm named after my grandmother, both my grandmothers, Eilleen and Regina. I think, in my mind, I was just not really wanting to be called my grandmother's name onstage, so I decided to change it to Shania Twain. I met somebody with the name Shania, thought it was beautiful, and Shania Twain was born."
Kayleigh Rose Amstutz
The “Good Luck, Babe!” singer’s onstage persona—Chappell Roan—has always been a “drag project,” allowing her to set boundaries and separate her personal life from the industry.
Jelena Noura Hadid
Oddly enough, Gigi Hadid got her stage name in school when the teacher would confuse her and a girl named Helena. Since her mom called her "gigi" as a term of endearment at home, she told the teacher to just call her Gigi and it simply stuck.
Mark Vincent
If you're looking for an explosive action-star name, how about Vin Diesel instead?
Destiny Hope Cyrus
Miley Cyrus' bright smile is what inspired her childhood nickname, Smiley. Eventually the name was shortened to Miley and it stuck.
Peter Gene Hernandez
Apparently the singer looked more like a Bruno than a Peter, so one day his dad started calling him Bruno. Ever since, he has been known as Bruno Mars.
Stefani Germanotta
Before the meat dresses and chart-topping music, Lady Gaga was just an everyday girl from New York.
Daniel Sudeikis
Jason Sudeikis confirmed on Today that he was named Daniel after his father, but following some confusion, his mom started using his middle name Jason to avoid confusion.
Emily Stone
Emma Stone ended adopting this stage name after finding out that the Screen Actors Guild already had a member registered under her birthname.
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon
Turns out Reese isn't even Reese Witherspoon's middle name. The actress chose the moniker in honor of her mother, whose maiden name is Reese.
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant
Every artist has an alter ego, and Lana Del Rey just happens to be the persona of choice for the singer.
Christopher Edwin Breaux
In 2014, Frank Ocean legally changed his name because, why not?
Elizabeth Stamatina Fey
A little known fact about 30 Rock's Tina Fey is that she is actually named Elizabeth. The comedian made a not so subtle tribute to her birth name by naming her character Liz Lemon.
Calvin Broadus
This pioneer of West Coast rap would later go on to be known as Snoop Dogg.
Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor
Turns out the "Royals" singer is really into learning about the aristocracy, hence the reason why she chose the name Lorde, but with a feminine 'e.'
Enrique Morales
Before he started shaking his bonbon for the masses, music superstar Ricky Martin went by this everyday name.
Amethyst Kelly
It's hard to believe that Iggy Azalea was born Amethyst Kelly!
Adam Richard Wiles
Fans were confused when Taylor Swift thanked then-boyfriend Adam in an acceptance speech, which lead people to the discovery that Calvin Harris is simply a stage name. The DJ told Shortlist magazine he chose the name because his first single was more soulful and wanted something a bit more "racially ambiguous."
Jennifer Anastassakis
Before she became a household name, this was what erstwhile Friend Jennifer Aniston answered to.