Cher 'Astonished' to Learn Her Legal Name While Attempting a Name Change
In her latest literary work, "Cher: The Memoir, Part One," the legendary singer and actress delves into an intriguing episode from her extensive life narrative. In this candid account, the recipient of both an Oscar and a Grammy recounts the startling moment in 1979 when she embarked on a legal process to simplify her name. To her astonishment, her birth certificate bore the name Cheryl, contradicting her long-held belief. For years, Cher had assumed her true name was Cherilyn until the day she opted to officially transition to the singular moniker, Cher.
The memoir details how Cher's mother, Georgia Holt, who was merely 19 at the time of Cher's birth in 1946, was too fatigued to notice the error. Exhausted post-delivery, Holt was caught off guard when a nurse inquired about the newborn's name. In a moment of spontaneity, she named her daughter after her favorite actress Lana Turner’s child, Cheryl, and combined it with her own mother's name, Lynda, thus arriving at Cherilyn.
Upon uncovering this surprising fact, Cher confronted her mother with the question, "Do you even know my real name, Mom?" Holt, reflecting on her youth and the circumstances, responded with, "I was only a teenager, and I was in a lot of pain. Give me a break."
By 1979, Cher had legally truncated her name to the iconic single name, discarding her multiple surnames: her father's Sarkisian, her stepfather's LaPiere, and the surnames of her former husbands, Bono and Allman. "Cher: The Memoir, Part One" hit the shelves on November 19 and is now available for readers.
