What Is Bruce Willis' Real Name?

Nicknamed "Bruno" as a kid by his friends, Bruce Willis was popular growing up, according to Biography. All the same, when he hit Hollywood he dropped his original name. He was born Walter Bruce Willis in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany in 1955. According to a biography by Sandy Asirvatham, Willis looks back on his childhood fondly.

In the book, Willis and his family moved to New Jersey when he was 2 years old. That town of Carneys Point, in Willis' words, was a "cool place to grow up." Elsewhere in the book, Asvirtham ponders what prompted Willis to change his name professionally. She posits that it was perhaps a way of escaping his childhood identity, as well as the baggage of growing up with a stutter.

That hasn't stopped him from making light of the switch, though. Along with other celebrities who changed their names, Willis starred in a 2008 commercial for Norwich Union, which was rebranding as Aviva. Per The Guardian, the commercial had each actor state their birth name and wonder what would've happened if they hadn't changed it. Along with Willis, the ad included Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey), Alice Cooper (Vincent Damon Furnier), and Dame Edna Everage (John Barry Humphries). Because of the star power, the Aviva ad was one of the most expensive ever made as of 2008, and Aviva reportedly spent nearly $13.5 million on it. Talk about a name change fee!

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