Sometimes changing your name is necessary, especially for these celebrities and famous figures! Did you know that Gene Simmons, Nicolas Cage, Olivia Wilde, Hulk Hogan, Meg Ryan and Joaquin Phoenix are not the birth names of these celebrities? All of them have stage names for many different reasons. Whether they changed their name due to it being too long, to avoid having the same name as another famous person or to simply distance themselves from their family. Other celebrities who have changed their names for stage reasons are Ben Kingsley, Kirk Douglas, Freddie Mercury and Helen Mirren.