Emma Stone Reveals She Prefers to Be Called by Her Real Name

What’s in a name for Emma Stone? A lot!

The two-time Oscar winner revealed in a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, alongside her The Curse costar Nathan Fielder, that she prefers to go by her given name, Emily, when possible.

In fact, when asked by THR whether she’d correct a fan who called her by her real name instead of Emma, the 35-year-old responded, “No. That would be so nice. I would like to be Emily.”

Stone said “people that I work with” call her Emily, “when I get to know them,” and noted that she made her stage name “Emma Stone” because Emily Stone “was taken” by another actress who was a member of SAG-AFTRA before her.

“Then I freaked out a couple of years ago,” she told the outlet. “For some reason, I was like, ‘I can’t do it anymore. Just call me Emily.’ Nathan calls me Em, which is easier.”

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Emma Stone in Los Angeles on Feb. 24, 2024.

Frazer Harrison/Getty


Back in November 2018, Stone said that incidentally, when she was younger, she did want to be called Emma because of her favorite Spice Girl: Baby Spice, a.k.a. Emma Bunton.

“Growing up, I was super blonde, and my real name is Emily, but I wanted to be called Emma because of Baby Spice and guess what? Now I am,” the Poor Things star said during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Backtracking slightly, Stone continued, “It wasn’t necessarily because of her but yes, in second grade, did I go up to the teacher on the first day and ask her to call me Emma? Yes I did.”

“And was it because of Emma Lee Bunton from the Spice Girls? Yes it was,” she added.

Emma Stone (L); Spice Girls’ Geri Halliwell, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm and Emma Bunton.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images; Dave M. Benett/Getty Images

Stone went on to add that although she’d already seen the British girl group in concert twice, she definitely planned to also catch them on their then-upcoming 2019 stadium tour.

“I saw them in concert in the ‘90s, I saw them at 02 Arena in 2008 and they recently announced a new tour and I will be going to that — somehow, ” the actress enthusiastically remarked.

“I don’t think tickets are on sale, but I’ll figure it out!” she added at the time.

Host Jimmy Fallon then helped Stone take an online quiz that would reveal which member from the group she was most like.

And as the results came in, she seemed absolutely shocked with her results. “I’m Posh Spice?” Stone gasped. “That is not — I’m shocked. I’m shocked.”

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