13. Joaquin Phoenix – Joaquin Rafael Bottom
Joaquin Phoenix has had a few name changes throughout the years. Born as Joaquin Rafael Bottom, Joaquin was born to a family who liked to chose really eccentric names for their children. Joaquin’s parents were part of a religious group called “The Children of God.” When the parents left that group, they resettled in the United States and changed their hilarious last name of Bottom to Phoenix, named after the bird who begins a new and rises from the ashes of its former self—totally deep. It was then that Joaquin wanted a name closer to his siblings’ wicked names of River, Rain, Summer and Liberty, so he went with Leaf. At 15, when Joaquin was going through a mini resurgence in his career, he changed his name back to his original name of Joaquin, this time with the new last name attached to it—Joaquin Phoenix.
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