Cher has revealed an extraordinary chapter of her life, sharing how she spent years not knowing her real name. In her newly released memoir, Cher: The Memoir, Part One , which hit shelves on November 19, the legendary singer opened up about the moment she discovered her birth name was not what she had always believed it to be. Cher, who thought her name was Cherilyn, was stunned to learn it was actually listed as Cheryl on her birth certificate.
The revelation came when the Grammy-winning artist decided to legally simplify her name to “Cher” in 1979. "I was shocked," she writes in her memoir, recounting the moment she realized her official name differed from what she had believed her entire life. Cher explained that her mother, Georgia Holt, had told her the story of how her name came to be, which provided some clarity.
"My mother was only a teenager and in a lot of pain when she had me," Cher explained, referring to her mom’s struggles after giving birth to her in May 1946. Georgia, uncertain about what to name her daughter, had reportedly been pressed for a name by a nurse. "She didn’t know what to say," Cher writes, adding that her mother’s inspiration came from Hollywood.
“She told the nurse, ‘Well, Lana Turner’s my favorite actress, and her little girl’s called Cheryl. My mother’s name is Lynda, so how about Cherilyn?’” While the intention may have been for her name to be Cherilyn, it was officially recorded as Cheryl. Cher writes that when she co.
