Check Out How Your Favorite Musicians Stumbled Into Choosing Their Now-Iconic Names

Bob Dylan Just Knew His Real Name Would Never Take Off

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Only the die-hard Dylan fans will know that his last name isn’t actually Dylan. Born Robert Zimmerman, the singer-songwriter began performing in his late teens under his original name. His biographer wrote that the singer was a big fan actor Matt Dillon and chose to adopt his last name. The name was changed from Dillon to Dylan after the singer read the works of poet Dylan Thomas.

Dylan has always been honest that he knew the name given to him was not suited for him. And, let’s be honest, Robert Zimmerman doesn’t have the same ring to it so it was a good call to adopt the name change.