Millennials Who Use Stage Names

These celebrity millennials knew that it's tough to break into show business, but that a good stage name might give you a leg up in a sea of all the other Michaels, Matthews, Amandas, and Jessicas that were born between 1981 and 1996. Especially when you consider everything else they have to work against.

A number of people on this list simply dropped their last names to make what they were called catchier or easier to remember. Janelle Monáe and Alison Brie both have last names they no longer use, since their first and middle names were catchier on their own.

This list of famous stage names includes millennials who go by nicknames and famous people who have changed their names. It does not, however, include millennials who use their married surnames professionally, had their names legally changed as children, or celebrities with obviously theatrical stage names. Adele must have a last name and we know that ASAP Ferg and ASAP Rocky aren't related.

But not every millennial celebrity chose a stage name that stands out. It's hard to imagine that the JTT that covered every Tiger Beat and teen mag in the 90's could have been "JTW" if Jonathan Taylor Thomas hadn't changed his name from Jonathan Taylor Weiss. Which of these millennials have the most surprising birth names?