Mistake in certificate

Cher was shocked when she found out her real name

Cher only discovered her birth certificate with an unexpected name in 1979.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Andrea RENAULT)

Cher reveals in her memoirs that she grew up believing her name was Cherilyn Sarkisian. It was only in 1979 that she discovered that her birth certificate had a completely different first name on it. What a shock!

The 78-year-old singer had requested the document to officially change her name to Cher after having used the short form as her stage name for years. But there was a big surprise.

Cher wasn't called Cherilyn at all
An excerpt from her memoir "Cher: The Memoir - Part One", which is available to People magazine and others, reads: "I thought my name was Cherilyn until one day years later I decided to change my name to Cher." The name Cheryl was on the birth certificate.

Cher got her supposed first name by chance. As she explains, her mother Georgia Holt was so exhausted after the difficult birth of her daughter that she didn't know what to call her child.

Favorite actress as inspiration
However, a nurse wanted to know the name of the newborn Cher from the then 19-year-old, the singer explains. "My mother had no idea, but the woman persisted, so she said: 'Well, my favorite actress is Lana Turner and her baby girl's name is Cheryl. My mom's name is Lynda, so how about Cherilyn?"

When Cher later found out that Cheryl, not Cherilyn, was on her birth certificate, her mother shrugged and explained: "I was a teenager and I was in a lot of pain. Give me a break."