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You probably think you know Cher. The hair, the outfits, the voice that sounds like velvet and gravel at the same time. But for thirty-three years, even the "Goddess of Pop" didn't actually know who she was on paper. Honestly, it sounds like something out of a movie, but the woman we’ve known as Cherilyn Sarkisian for decades found out in middle age that her birth certificate said something else entirely.
It turns out her legal name was actually Cheryl Sarkisian.
She didn’t find this out until 1979. She was already a global superstar, a fashion icon, and one-half of the most famous duo in the world. When she went to a government office to legally shorten her name to just "Cher," the clerk handed over her records, and she was floored. No Cherilyn. Just Cheryl.
The Hospital Room Mix-Up
The story behind the name is kinda chaotic. It was May 20, 1946, in El Centro, California. Her mother, Georgia Holt, was only 19 years old and had just gone through a brutal, unmedicated labor. Georgia was exhausted. She was basically out of it.
A nurse came in and insisted on a name for the birth certificate. Georgia didn't have one ready. In a moment of sleep-deprived inspiration, she thought of her favorite actress, Lana Turner, who had a daughter named Cheryl. Then she thought of her own mother, Lynda. She told the nurse, "How about Cherilyn?"
The nurse apparently heard "Cheryl" or just decided that was close enough. Either way, the pen hit the paper, and Cheryl Sarkisian became the official record.
When Cher eventually confronted her mother about the discrepancy years later, Georgia’s response was classic. She basically told her, "I was a teenager and in a lot of pain. Give me a break!"
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Why the Name Change Mattered
By the time 1979 rolled around, Cher was done with being defined by the men in her life. Most people don't realize how many last names she was actually carrying around. She wasn't just Sarkisian. She had been Cheryl LaPiere (after her stepfather adopted her), then Cher Bono, then Cher Allman.
It was a mess.
She told Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show that she was tired of people wondering if they should call her Mrs. Bono or Mrs. Allman or Mrs. Bono-Allman. It’s funny because we think of "Cher" as this massive, calculated brand move, but for her, it was mostly about cleaning house. She wanted to strip away the identities that didn't belong to her anymore.
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The Legend of the Surname
The name Sarkisian carries a lot of weight. Her father, John Paul Sarkisian, was Armenian-American, and his parents were survivors of the Armenian Genocide. That heritage is a huge part of her identity, even if her relationship with her father was incredibly strained. He was a truck driver who struggled with gambling and drug issues, and he was barely in the picture when she was a kid.
There’s also that long-standing rumor about her being "Half-Breed," fueled by her 1973 hit song. While her mother, Georgia, claimed Cherokee ancestry, genealogical researchers have struggled to find any hard proof of it. Most records suggest her mother's side was a mix of English, German, and Irish.
Cher has admitted that her publicist in the 70s leaned into the Native American imagery because it worked for her "exotic" look. It was a different time, and the "Cherilyn" name—which she thought was hers—fit that persona perfectly.
Living as a Mononym
Today, she is just Cher. No last name. No "Cheryl." No "Cherilyn."
In 1979, a judge asked her if she could be recognized by the majority of people by just one name. She laughed. Of course she could. It's on her passport, it’s on her driver's license, and it’s on the cover of every record she’s sold since the Carter administration.
If you're looking to verify her history or dig into the genealogy yourself, her recent memoir, Cher: The Memoir, Part One, goes into deep detail about the El Centro hospital discovery. You can also find her early recordings under names like Bonnie Jo Mason and Cherilyn, which show just how much she experimented before landing on the icon we know now.
Next time you hear "Believe" or see her on a red carpet, remember that for a huge chunk of her life, she was technically a woman named Cheryl who didn't even know it.
Actionable Insight: If you’re curious about your own legal history, don't wait until you're 33 to check your original birth certificate. Hospital clerical errors were incredibly common in the mid-20th century. You can request an official copy from your state's Department of Health or Vital Records office to ensure your "official" identity matches the one you use every day.