Nicolas Cage legally becomes Nick Cage

Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage legally changed his name in 2025, formally rewriting the credits on his own life and providing key justifications for his decision. The Oscar-winning actor revealed that he has officially dropped his original surname and is now simply “Nick Cage,” both on and off paper.

Speaking to Variety regarding the development, he shared, “I am Nick Cage. I changed my name legally last year.”

“I’m Nick Cage in life, and I’m Nick Cage on camera. ‘Tis better to be the patriarch of my own little family than the clown cousin on the margins of someone else’s, so I decided I’m going to bring it on and be ‘Cage’,” he continued.

Cage, who was born Nicolas Kim Coppola, has long lived under the shadow of Hollywood’s prominent Coppola dynasty—something he claims he is now completely over.

“I thought, well, I’ll keep the name ‘Nicolas’ because my father named me Nicolas Cage — with French spelling, which has always frustrated me, because everyone adds an ‘h,’” he added with his trademark enthusiasm. “I don’t know why he gave me the French spelling! But he did.”

The surname “Cage” itself is not arbitrary. The actor has previously stated that it was inspired by Marvel’s Luke Cage and avant-garde composer John Cage, chosen because it felt “short and sweet,” in the vein of classic Hollywood icons.

As he previously told Wired: “I decided, I don’t need this, and I changed it to Cage. It’s a combination of Luke Cage from Marvel Comics … and John Cage, the avant-garde composer. Speaks volumes about what I’ve been up to ever since.”

Despite the official change, Cage claims he doesn’t mind what people call him anymore.

“I think people know me as both,” Nicolas Cage further said. The upcoming television series Spider-Noir and the biopic Madden are just two of Nick Cage’s many upcoming projects.