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We have only ever known her as Cher. Well, some know her as the Goddess of Pop, others call her the Queen of Camp, but — like Madonna or Sting — Cher's public persona has never come with a last name. However, before the "Believe" hitmaker legally changed her name to her stage moniker, she was Cherilyn Sarkisian , the daughter of John Sarkisian and Georgia Holt; at least, that's what she was called all her life. However, after 33 years of going by Cherilyn, the singer uncovered a shocking truth about her real name.

Opening up about the 1979 name-changing process in her 2024 memoir "Cher: Part One: The Memoir," Cher said she discovered that her legal name was Cheryl, not Cherilyn. "When I applied for my birth certificate, I was

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