Cher was 'shocked' when she discovered legal name decades after birth certificate error

Cher recalled how she reacted upon first learning of her legal name when she was in her 30s.

In her new memoir "Cher: The Memoir, Part One," the 77-year-old singer wrote about requesting a copy of her birth certificate when she applied to legally change her name to her famous mononym in 1979. The Grammy Award winner wrote that she was "shocked" to see that her first name was listed as "Cheryl" on the document.

"I believed Cherilyn was my name until the day years later when I decided to legally change my name to simply Cher," the "Moonstruck" actress remembered in her book, according to People magazine.

Cher was "shocked" to first find out her legal name in her 30s. (STEFANO RELLANDINI/AFP via Getty Images)

Cher's late mother, Georgia Holt, was 19 when she gave birth to the singer in 1946. In her book, Cher explained that Holt went into labor a month earlier than her expected due date. Cher wrote that her mother endured a long labor without medication at a small hospital in El Centro, California.

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 "She was exhausted by the time I arrived at around 7:30 a.m. on Monday, May 20," the music icon wrote. 

After Holt gave birth to Cher, a nurse visited her to ask what name she had chosen for her baby.

"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?'" Cher wrote.

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The singer's mother Georgia Holt gave birth to Cher when she was 19. ( Margaret Norton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)

Since she was exhausted and recovering from the difficult labor, Holt didn't notice that the nurse erroneously registered her newborn's name as Cheryl.

Cher recalled that she confronted her mother after making the discovery and asked Holt, "Do you even know my real name, Mom?"

"I believed Cherilyn was my name until the day years later when I decided to legally change my name to simply Cher."

— Cher

The "Believe" songstress wrote that Georgia took the birth certificate from her daughter and then shrugged after looking at the document.

"I was only a teenager, and I was in a lot of pain. Give me a break," Cher recalled her mother telling her.

The Grammy winner changed her name to her famous mononym in 1979. ( Ron Tom/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)

Cher is the only child of Holt and John Sarkisian, who divorced when the singer was 10-months-old. Holt and Sarkisian married again in 1965 but divorced the following year. In addition to Sarkisian, Holt was married to five other husbands. Her last marriage was to Hamilton T. Holt, whom she wed in 1970. Though the two divorced in 1974, Holt kept her ex-husband's surname until she died at the age of 96 in 2022.

After Holt's third husband Gilbert LaPiere legally adopted Cher, the singer took his last name. Cher also took the surnames of her ex-husbands Sonny Bono and Gregg Allman. 

The Oscar winner decided to drop all four of her surnames which included Sarkisian, LaPiere, Bono and Allman when she legally changed her name to "Cher." 

Ashley Hume is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and on Twitter: @ashleyhume