Five Stars Who Changed Their Names—and Changed 'Em Back

Tony Parker-ditching Eva Longoria is so not alone

By Joal Ryan Nov 18, 2010 5:08 PMTags
Eva Longoria ParkerAndrew Shawaf/PacificCoastNews.com

Welcome back, Eva Longoria Parker!

Sure, the paperwork required to return to your roots is about as big a pain as dumping your husband, but know that you are not alone. Guess who else changed their names—and then changed their minds? 

ABC/MICHAEL DESMOND

1. Courteney Cox Arquette: The new last name, which Cox adopted after her 1999 marriage to David Arquette, came in with a bang at the start of Friends' sixth season. A few years later, the future Cougar Town resident dropped the addition—professionally, speaking—in order to pay tribute to her late father. Personally speaking, Cox is still an Arquette. Yes, still.

AP Photo/Sebastan Scheiner

2. Pamela Lee Anderson: This star has changed screen names the way some people change passwords (or bust sizes). Three months into her 1995 marriage to rocker Tommy Lee, she became known as Pamela Lee. For Barb Wire, she went with Pamela Anderson Lee. Then Lee, er, Anderson, er, Anderson Lee divorced Lee, and…

3. Farrah Fawcett-Majors: In the early 1970s, Fawcett was, per the press, "a blonde frequently seen in toothpaste and cigar advertisements." Then she wed prime-time fixture Lee Majors, hyphenated her last name, as was the era's hear-me-roar style, and became the blonde of the decade. It probably seemed a branding risk when the icon ditched the Majors and the hyphen upon the couple's 1979 separation (they subsequently divorced), but then, she'd already endured the greatest career risk: ditching Charlie's Angels.

TIFF

4. Robin Wright Penn: Through all the splits and reconcilliations with Sean Penn, the Forrest Gump star stuck with her married name. Until this last time. All hail the return of The Princess Bride!

5. The Artist Formerly Known as Prince: The Muppets weren't the only ones confounded when the funky superstar changed his name in the early 1990s to this. A dispute with his record label, and not a marriage, was behind the move. In 2000, he announced he had been "emancipated," and that, sure, you could go back to calling him this.