Cher recalls learning her real name was never ‘Cherilyn’

Cher was mistaken about her real name for a long time.

The musician revealed the surprise she got when she discovered that her birth certificate listed a completely different name than the one she believed she had.

The 78-year-old Believe singer shared in her new book, Cher: The Memoir, Part One, that she grew up thinking her legal name was Cherilyn. However, she learned the truth decades later after finding success in her music career.

Cher explained that she only discovered the mix-up when she decided to legally change her name to Cher in the late 1970s.

Upon reviewing her birth certificate, she was shocked to see the name "Cheryl" instead of "Cherilyn."

The iconic performer wrote that her mother, Georgia Holt, was just 19 years old when she gave birth and went through a long, painful labor. Afterward, a nurse asked her exhausted mother for the baby’s name.

“My mother had no idea, but the woman insisted, so she replied, ‘Well, Lana Turner’s my favorite actress, and her little girl’s called Cheryl. My mother’s name is Lynda, so how about Cherilyn?’” Cher recounted in her memoir.

Believing her name to be Cherilyn her entire life, Cher said she was “shocked” to find out otherwise.

When she asked her mother about the mix-up, Georgia replied, “I was only a teenager, and I was in a lot of pain. Give me a break.”

Cher officially changed her name to Cher in 1979, a decision that matched the simplicity and uniqueness of her stage persona.