The 78-year-old singer was raised as Cherilyn Sarkisian, but in 1979, she applied for a copy of her birth certificate so she could officially change her moniker to reflect the one she used as a performer – and discovered she had actually been registered as Cheryl.
In an extract from her book ‘Cher: The Memoir, Part One’ seen by People magazine, she wrote: “I believed Cherilyn was my name until the day years later when I decided to legally change my name to simply Cher.”
Cher’s mom, Georgia Holt endured a long labour without pain relief when she gave birth a month early and was “exhausted” afterwards.
While Georgia was recovering, a nurse visited her room and asked the 19-year-old new mom what she planned to name her baby.
Cher wrote: "My mother had no idea, but the woman insisted so she replied, ‘Well, Lana Turner’s my favorite actress and her little girl’s called Cheryl. My mother’s name is Lynda, so how about Cherilyn? ’ "
After seeing her birth certificate for the first time, the ‘Believe’ hitmaker asked her mother: “Do you even know my real name, Mom?”
She told how her mom – who passed away in December 2022 aged 96 – snatched the document, looked at it and simply shrugged as she told her famous daughter: “I was only a teenager, and I was in a lot of pain. Give me a break.”
Cher was “shocked” to find out her real name.
The 78-year-old singer was raised as Cherilyn Sarkisian, but in 1979, she applied for a copy of her birth certificate so she could officially change her moniker to reflect the one she used as a performer – and discovered she had actually been registered as Cheryl.
In an extract from her book ‘Cher: The Memoir, Part One’ seen by People magazine, she wrote: “I believed Cherilyn was my name until the day years later when I decided to legally change my name to simply Cher.”
Cher’s mom, Georgia Holt endured a long labour without pain relief when she gave birth a month early and was “exhausted” afterwards.
While Georgia was recovering, a nurse visited her room and asked the 19-year-old new mom what she planned to name her baby.
Cher wrote: "My mother had no idea, but the woman insisted so she replied, ‘Well, Lana Turner’s my favorite actress and her little girl’s called Cheryl. My mother’s name is Lynda, so how about Cherilyn? ’ "
After seeing her birth certificate for the first time, the ‘Believe’ hitmaker asked her mother: “Do you even know my real name, Mom?”
She told how her mom – who passed away in December 2022 aged 96 – snatched the document, looked at it and simply shrugged as she told her famous daughter: “I was only a teenager, and I was in a lot of pain. Give me a break.”