Emma Stone Reveals Her Secret Stage Name—And Why She Abandoned It

During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the 36-year-old actress said: "I actually adopted a stage name for, I would say, like six months. Because the Screen Actors Guild, it's like the Business Bureau. You can only have one person with that name.

"I was 16, and I decided I wanted to be Riley for like six months. So I was Riley Stone, which is a beautiful name."

However, Stone shared she struggled to get used to being called Riley when she was working.

She added: "I did an episode, like a guest part, on Malcolm in the Middle, and they kept going like: 'Riley! Riley!' And I had no idea who they were talking to. Truly. And I was like: 'I cannot be Riley.' Like, it's such a ... It came out of nowhere."

"I was just like: 'Cool name. I'll just be Riley'."

The actress then decided to switch to Emma Stone because it sounded similar to her birth name of Emily, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

She added: "So I then changed it to 'Emma' because it's close enough to 'Emily'."

The Oscar-winner had earlier said she would love to revert back to her real name of Emily because it can become very confusing at times.

She told The Hollywood Reporter: "When I get to know them, people that I work with do (call me Emily). It's just because my name was taken (by another actress). Then I freaked out a couple of years ago. For some reason, I was like: 'I can't do it anymore. Just call me Emily' ... "

Asked if she would correct a fan who called her Emily instead of Emma, the actress replied: "No. That would be so nice. I would like to be Emily."

- IANS