Cher reveals her name has actually been wrong this whole time

Cher has revealed that the name written on her birth certificate has been incorrect all this time.

The American pop superstar and actress, 78, who was born in 1946, has shared the story from the very beginning of her life in her new autobiography.

After Cher’s paternal grandparents fled to America after the Armenian genocide of 1915, her dad John Sarkisian married actress, singer, and model Georgia Holt.

Holt had only just turned 19 when she married John in 1945, and she gave birth to Cher just a few weeks before her 20th birthday.

On that happy occasion, however, there was an almighty naming mix-up that Cher only became aware of at the height of her fame in the 1970s.

In the first part of her new autobiography, Cher: The Memoir, she revealed that the name on her birth certificate – Cheryl Sarkisian – didn’t match the name Holt had given her.

‘I believed Cherilyn was my name,’ she writes, explaining that, when her mother was asked for a name by a nurse, Holt gave detailed reasoning.

‘My mother replied, “Well, Lana Turner’s my favourite actress and her little girl’s called Cheryl. My mother’s name is Lynda, so how about Cherilyn?”‘

However, years later – around the time of her divorce from Sonny Bono – Cher decided to change her legal name and made the starting discovery.

‘I was shocked to discover that I was officially registered as Cheryl. [So I] asked my mother, “Do you even know my real name, Mom?”‘

Holt, who was in her late 40s at the time, apparently demanded to look at the birth certificate before rationalising that she was in a lot of pain and cheekily asked Cher to ‘give [her] a break!’

Her mother and father divorced when Cher was just 10 months old, only for them to end up remarrying for a few short months 20 years later.

Holt only recently died, in 2022, having lived to the grand age of 96. She re-married (and subsequently divorced) five more times and gave birth to another daughter, Georganne.

After marrying and divorcing six times, Holt met partner Craig Spencer in 1976. They never married but stayed together until her death.

She’d been battling health issues for months beforehand, with Cher tweeting: ‘Sorry I’ve been MIA (missing in action). Mom’s been sick off and on. She just got out of hospital – she had pneumonia. She’s getting better.’

However, in November 2022, she simply tweeted ‘Mom is gone’.

Following her mother’s death, Cher responded to a concerned fan on the social media platform X, promising them she was doing okay.

‘‘I’m not sad. We set her free. She is no longer crying out in Pain 24/7. She is her happy, funny, insane, beautiful self,’ adding: ‘She’s been so sick so long. The day she died she didn’t look like my beautiful crazy mom.’

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

MORE: Lizzo fans can’t get over her drastic weight loss after star revealed intense new workout regime

MORE: Cheers star George Wendt, 76, looks frail in wheelchair during rare outing

MORE: Adele sobs as she completes two-year Las Vegas residency ahead of ‘big break’ from music