The Real Story Behind How Marilyn Monroe Got Her Name

Marilyn Monroe was truly one of the biggest stars of the 20th century. Although her fame got cut short by her tragic death from a barbiturates overdose in 1962, she still made a lasting influence through her starring roles in films such as "The Seven Year Itch," "Bus Stop," and "Some Like It Hot," for which she won her first and only Golden Globe Award in 1960 (she was also nominated for one for "Bus Stop," in 1957). In addition, her three high-profile marriages, most notably those to baseball star Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller, made her personal life of great interest to the gossip columnists. 

In the six decades since her death, her influence has proved to transcend her life as she has remained one of the most recognizable symbols of the American entertainment industry. However, as many superfans of the "blonde bombshell" know, Marilyn Monroe was not her birth name. In fact, many, including Monroe herself, likely feel like her real name — Norma Jean Baker — did not suit her. Naturally, this led to Monroe deciding to change it. However, the real story behind how she landed on "Marilyn Monroe" may surprise even her biggest fans. 

According to TIME Magazine, it was actually an executive at 20th Century Fox, Ben Lyon, who convinced a young Marilyn Monroe to change her name when she signed onto the studio in 1946, the same year she divorced from her first husband, Los Angeles police officer James Dougherty. Although Monroe was born Norma Jean Mortenson (named after the man Monroe's mother, Gladys Pearl, was married to at the time), her mother soon changed it to "Norma Jean Baker" after she divorced Mortensen in 1928, using her ex-husband, Jasper Newton Baker's, surname (though neither was in fact Monroe's real father). 

Of course, at that time, nearly all big movie stars had their names changed. But Monroe in particular felt her real name was not suitable as a potentially big-name actress; in fact, she even described it as "unwanted," even going so far as to say it made her feel like "a little servant girl," per First Curiosity. 

According to a photograph obtained by LA's Paley Center for Media of Lyon and Monroe from the mid-'50s, Monroe acknowledged Lyon as the man who  chose her name for her. "Dear Ben," she wrote on the photograph. "You found me, named me and believed in me when no one else did. My thanks and love forever. Marilyn." 

When it came to deciding on Norma Jean Baker's stage name, it was really a group effort. According to NPR, it was Ben Lyon who suggested "Marilyn," after Marilyn Miller, a Broadway-turned-film star in the '20s and '30s (she died in 1936). Lyon, who used to be an actor, even starred with Miller in her final film role in "Her Majesty, Love." Of course, little did Lyon — or Monroe — know that, about a decade later, Monroe would end up marrying playwright Arthur Miller, and even start going by Marilyn Monroe Miller, per IMDb. 

In addition, though Miller died before she ever had a chance to see her namesake take off, they did have eerily similar personal stories. Both had troubled personal lives, including three divorces, increasing substance abuse and mental health difficulties, and eventually an early death (Monroe, of course, died at 36 of a barbiturate overdose, while Miller died at 37 due to complications from a botched nasal surgery). 

As for the surname, Monroe selected it herself, based on her background — her mother's maiden name was Monroe.