10 celebs who kept their ex's last name even after divorce: From Tina Turner to Kris Jenner

10 celebs who kept their married name after divorce unlike Jennifer Lopez: From Tina Turner to Demi Moore

After Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from her husband of two years, Ben Affleck, on Tuesday, August 20, it came to the fore that she would be changing her legal surname back to Lopez. Per Page Six, the 55-year-old entertainer legally became Mrs Jennnifer Lynn Affleck after her marriage to the 'Argo' actor in July 2022. Romanticizing the idea of taking her husband's name, the 'Maid in Manhattan' actress told Vogue in November 2022, “People are still going to call me Jennifer Lopez. But my legal name will be Mrs Affleck because we’re joined together,” before adding, “We’re husband and wife. I’m proud of that. I don’t think that’s a problem.” It has recently been reported that she would be reverting to her previous surname of Lopez once the divorce is finalized. While the actress decided to change her name back, certain celebrities in Tinsel Town kept their exes' surnames, and that too with good reasons.

1. Kris Jenner

Kris Jenner leads the brigade of celebrities who retained their married surnames even after divorce. Though the famous Hollywood momager divorced her ex Bruce Jenner (now Caitlyn Jenner) back in 2015, she remained a Jenner. In a 2016 interview with Australian radio show KIIS 1065 Sydney, she attributed her decision to her two younger daughters - Kendall and Kylie Jenner. 'The Kardashian' star said, “[There] happens to be two younger girls who have an amazing dad and I think I’m going to stay right where I am,” and added, “[Changing my name] sounded good for a minute, but I went, ‘You just have to respect the relationship of the entire family.’”

2. Tina Turner

Tina Turner, who was born Anna Mae Bullock, kept her name as a form of protection. Once, appearing on CBS News, she recalled Ike Turner came to her with the record of their 1960 debut single together, 'A Fool in Love'. Seeing their names written together as 'Ike & Tina Turner', the songstress was flabbergasted. She shared in the interview, "I said, 'Who's Tina?' He said, 'You're Tina.'" and added, "It was really hard to say in the beginning." Tina and Ike married two years later and divorced 16 years later in 1978. However, after the divorce, she retained her name and revealed in her 2021 documentary, "The divorce, I got nothing. No money, no house. So I said, 'I'll just take my name'."

3. Susan Sarandon

Susan Sarandon was born Susan Abigail Tomalin and married actor Chris Sarandon in 1967 when she was just 20. Once appearing on her ex-husband's podcast 'Cooking by Heart', she recalled, "What happened was, we said, 'Look, I wanna move out, and we're gonna live together'. And you definitely couldn't do that unless you were married at that time, back in the Middle Ages at a Catholic college." After their divorce in 1979, already a star, she retained her surname.

4. Demi Moore

Demi Moore was married to Freddy Moore when she got her breakout role in 'St. Elmo's Fire'. Thus though the couple divorced after only five years of marriage in 1985, the actress, born Demetria Guynes, kept her surname as she already became famous with that name. It would have been a questionable move to re-establish her identity.

5. Faith Hill

Faith Hill was born Audrey Faith Perry. But her stage name (or the surname) came from her ex-husband Daniel Hill, whom she married in 1998. Though the couple divorced in 1994, the songstress kept her husband's surname as their divorce coincided with her becoming famous. Thus, she decided to retain her surname to keep her brand intact. Though she tied the knot with country singer Tim McGraw later, she did not change her surname.

6. Joy Behar

'The View' host had already made her identity as Joy Behar when she separated from her ex-husband Joe Behar. The comedian, born Josephina Victoria Occhiuto, thus kept her last name as her ex-husband's.

7. La La Anthony

La La Anthony did not change her surname because of her son, Kiyan, whom she welcomed in 2007 with her ex-husband NBA star Carmelo Anthony. Though the couple divorced in 2021, she said Kiyan might follow in his father’s footsteps as a basketball star. She shared that she wants their shared name on her son's jersey. She explained, “That’s why I haven’t changed my last name yet,” before adding, “I’m gonna keep it around for a little while!” per Us Weekly.

8. Kimora Lee Simmons

Kimora Lee Simmons is another star who retained her married surname. The model and entrepreneur, born Kimora Perkins, was married to Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons from 1998-2009. However, like other stars, Kimora was already a star when she separated and hence decided to keep her surname.

9. Camille Grammer

Camille Grammer, who kept the surname of ex-husband Kelsey Grammer after their 2011 divorce, shared during an October 2017 appearance on 'The Wendy Williams Show' that she retained her surname because of their children - daughter Mason, born in 2001, and son Jude, born in 2004. She said, “Our children are Grammers, and it’s easier to keep the Grammer last name because of our children,” before adding, “There’s so much paperwork that goes on with changing names, and I’m going through this custody battle and all this legal stuff. So, maybe after all that’s done, I’ll change my name. But right now it’s just easier to keep it.”

10. Cheryl Cole

Singer Cheryl Cole too uses the surname of her footballer ex Ashley Cole, with whom she was married from 2006 to 2010. The 'Girls Aloud' singer too grew into prominence when she was married to Ashley and decided to retain her surname.