Nicolas Cage Reveals He Legally Changed His Name Rather Than Be ‘the Clown Cousin’ of the Coppolas

Nicolas Cage’s famous moniker was just a stage name until last year.

The actor, 62, was born Nicolas Kim Coppola, but he changed his name to separate himself from his celebrated and successful uncle, director Francis Ford Coppola. Like many actors in Hollywood who adopt a stage name for one reason or another, “Cage” stuck. However, the National Treasure actor took the important step of legally changing his name recently.

“I am Nick Cage. I changed my name legally last year. I’m Nick Cage in life, and I’m Nick Cage on camera,” the Spider-Noir star told Variety in an interview published on Tuesday, May 27. “‘Tis better to be the patriarch of my own little family than the clown cousin on the margins of someone else’s, so I decided I’m going to bring it on and be ‘Cage.’”

The actor discussed the process of picking his new name back in the day, revealing he was hoping to emulate another Hollywood icon.

“I was looking for something like ‘James Dean’; I was looking for something short and sweet,” he explained. “I thought, well, I’ll keep the name ‘Nicolas’ because my father named me Nicolas — with French spelling, which has always frustrated me, because everyone adds an ‘h.’ I don’t know why he gave me the French spelling! But he did.”

As for whether or not he prefers to be known as Nick or Nicolas, he said he has no strong opinion either way, declaring, “I’m both.”

Cage previously told Wired in 2022 that he changed his name to “Cage” from “Coppola” while working on the set of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. People would hear his last name and start referencing his uncle’s movies like Apocalypse Now.

“It made it hard to work and I decided, ‘I don’t need this,’” he said. “It’s a combination of Luke Cage from Marvel Comics, he was a character I liked, also known as Power Man, and John Cage, the avant-garde composer. Speaks volumes about what I’ve been up to ever since.”