Julia Roberts leaves fans shocked after revealing real name
The Oscar-winning actress has roots in England, Scotland, Wales and NI, as well as the Republican of Ireland, Germany and Sweden
By now, I'm sure the majority of us are more than familiar with the concept of a stage name - professional titles that some stars prefer to be known by, that distinguish them from us 'normies'.
In recent years alone, we've discovered that 'Katy Perry' was actually born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson but ditched her full name for religious reasons, and that Reese Witherspoon isn't called 'Reese' at all, but Laura Jean.
In fact, it sometimes seems like most of Hollywood have secretly been using pseudonyms.
That said, however, this didn't stop fans of Academy Award-winning actress Julia Roberts from being left totally blindsided recently, after discovering that she actually has a slightly longer title that may not have been expected.
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It turns out that, when Atlanta, Georgia youngster Julia was born to her parents - one-time actors and playwrights Betty Lou Bredemus and Walter Grady Roberts - in 1967, the couple opted to pay homage to their heritage.
Interestingly, going back, the Roberts family have roots in all British nations (England, Scotland, Wales and NI), as well as the Republican of Ireland, Germany, and Sweden.
And when deciding on a middle name for their daughter, they opted to go for 'Fiona', a name of Gaelic origin which means 'white' or 'fair'.
Now, Julia's full title is hardly a secret. In fact, during an appearance at US-Ireland Alliance's Oscar Wilde: Honoring the Irish in Film event in 2011, the Pretty Woman beauty joked: "Maybe I can become Irish."
While presenting an award to Ant Man actor Paul Rudd, she added: "My middle name is Fiona, which is a step closer to being Irish than Paul Rudd was five minutes ago."
As we say, despite being old news, and despite the fact that 'Fiona' is hardly an extravagant middle moniker, fans of the three-time Golden Globe winner seemingly didn't expect the name to make an appearance in her full title.
Taking to social media recently, one demanded: "How am I 29 years old and I just leaned Julia Roberts and I have the same middle name?"
After another user noted that they have a 'customer/friend' at work 'who is Julia Robert’s twin, and her name is Fiona', they also added: "I forgot to mention that Fiona is Julia Roberts’ middle name."
"Julia Roberts' middle name is Fiona," a third explained, pairing their statement with a number of shocked-face emojis.
Arguably even more interesting, is that 58-year-old Julia - who celebrated her 58th birthday just yesterday (28 October) - recently made a startling name-oriented discovery of her own, after finding that her family's name isn't actually Roberts.
During an appearance on Finding Your Roots in 2023, the actress discovered that her great-great grandmother had welcomed a child out of wedlock with a man named Henry McDonald Mitchell Jr.
This means that, technically, her surname should be 'Mitchell', not Roberts.
"On the one hand, truly, my mind is blown," mother-of-three responded at the time. "And it is fascinating.
"And on the other hand, there's part of me that, when I'm calmer, can still wrap my arms around the idea that my family is my family.
"And I do prefer the name Roberts."
Rhianna Benson