Cher Says She Was 'Shocked' to Find Out Her Legal Name After Birth Certificate Mix-Up

Cher made an unexpected discovery when she began the process of legally changing her name.

In his new memoir Cher: Memoirs, Part Onewhich was released Nov. 19, the 78-year-old music legend — born Cherilyn Sarkisian — recounts how she requested a copy of her birth certificate in 1979 and was “shocked” to see her name registered as Cheryl.

“I believed Cherilyn was my name until the day I decided years later to legally change my name to simply Cher,” she writes, explaining how the confusion came about.

Back in 1946, her then 19-year-old mother, Georgia Holt, was born a month early in a small hospital in El Centro, California, and had a long, unmedicated labor. “She was exhausted when I arrived around 7:30 a.m. on Monday, May 20,” writes Cher.

Looking back at Cher’s heartwarming photos with mum Georgia Holt through the years

Cher and her mother Georgia Holt in November 2010.

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

While her mother was recovering, a nurse visited her room and asked what she planned to name her newborn. “My mother had no idea, but the woman insisted, so she replied, ‘Well, Lana Turner is my favorite actress, and her little girl’s name is Cheryl. My mother’s name is Lynda, so how about Cherilyn?'” recounts the singer. Believe” in her memoir.

When Cher later found out about the mistake on the birth certificate, she asked her mother, “Do you even know my real name, Mom?” It says that her mother tore the document out of her hands, looked at it and just shrugged her shoulders.

She told her famous daughter: “I was just a teenager and I suffered a lot. Give me a break.”

The Grammy Award winner legally changed her name in 1979, shortening her name to Cher and dropping the four surnames she had at the time: her birth name, Sarkisian; LaPiere, the legal name she assumed when she was adopted by her stepfather in 1961; and Bono and Allman from her marriages to Sunny Bono and Gregg Allman.

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‘Cher, a memoir, part one.’

Cher’s mother died in December 2022 at the age of 96 after being hospitalized with pneumonia in September. The Infatuated with the moon star revealed the sad news on X (formerly known as Twitter) at the time, writing simply, “Mommy’s gone.”

In 2013, Cher told PEOPLE what she learned from her mom, explaining that Holt — an actress and musician — never gave the singer and her sister Georganne advice “because, honestly, she knew we would never take it.”

She explained: “Instead, we learned about life by listening to her talk about the things she did wrong and the things she did right.”

Cher recalls how she took someone else’s horse and jumped on a freight train at the age of 9: ‘I could have died’

Cher recalled being in awe of her late mom’s glamour. “She and her friends were so beautiful. When they walked into the room, everything stopped. She also dressed beautifully,” she said.

The music icon also admitted that she was “very stubborn” as a child and put her mom through some trials with her wild behavior.

“I did a few things like run away when I was 11. I got on a train with friends,” she told PEOPLE. “I was just very adventurous – but never disrespectful. She wouldn’t have put up with it.”

Cher: Memoirs, Part One it is available now, wherever books are sold.

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Source: HIS Education