Macaulay Culkin, the actor who remains forever young in our minds as Kevin McCallister from Home Alone, made an interesting decision in 2018. He took a trip to the courthouse to officially change his middle name, which he found less than ideal.
Throughout his acting career, Culkin has been known for roles in films and series such as Richie Rich, Robot Chicken, and American Horror Story, each offering him a variety of character names.
However, his desire for a name change wasn’t limited to the characters he portrayed. In 2018, Culkin opened up a conversation on his website, Bunny Ears, about how he wasn’t particularly fond of his given middle name.
He described his middle name as ‘something dumb’—so forgettable that he couldn’t even recall it. “Larry? Orange? Honestly, I can’t even remember it,” he remarked.
Facing this dilemma, Culkin sought help from the public for suggestions on a new middle name. “I asked you all to send in some better options so I can go down to the court house and explain to a judge why I need to change my middle name to something cool,” he explained.
The internet didn’t disappoint, and soon Culkin had a flood of creative suggestions to choose from.
He filtered these down to his top five choices, one of which was Kieran, sharing a name with his brother. The final decision was left to a public vote, which concluded on Christmas Eve. Culkin joked, “Sure, I might have gold-plated watercraft, and chrome plated invisibility cloaks, but all I want for Christmas is a new middle name.”
The wish came true. On Christmas Day, Culkin announced on Twitter that his new legal name would be Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin. “It has a nice ring to it (if you like my name),” he wrote humorously.
Culkin’s unconventional name change was even updated on his Wikipedia page, now listing him as ‘Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin.’ His fans continue to appreciate this peculiar yet amusing choice, with one fan tweeting, “We’re watching Home Alone 2 and I just remembered that Macaulay Culkin changed his name to Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin. Magic.”