Kat Dennings reveals her real name and why she changed it, jokes it was 'a CEO situation'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Kat Dennings shared that she knew from a young age that her birth name, Katherine Victoria Litwack, was unfit for the Hollywood spotlight.

During the March 13 episode of 'Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce', the 38-year-old actress shared how she decided to adopt a stage name at just nine years old.

Kat Dennings reflects on the inspiration behind ‘Kat Dennings’

Speaking about her name change, Kat Dennings joked, “My real last name is Litwack—that’s all you need to hear.”

“At 9, I was like, ‘This isn’t going to work for me,’” she added.

Dennings added that she was ahead of her time in making the decision.

“It was a CEO situation,” she said, adding, “I was like, ‘This can’t be displayed on a poster.’”

The actress found inspiration for her last name from her mother’s close friend, Lloyd Alexander, the author of 'The Chronicles of Prydain' series.

She frequently visited him and his wife, Janine Denni, and admired the sound of the name.

“I thought it would be a super sick idea if I took her name and made it different. That’s as far as it went. So Dennings is from her,” Dennings recalled.

As for her first name, she credits Christina Ricci’s character Kat from the 1995 movie 'Casper' as her inspiration.

“She was my favorite character at the time,” Dennings said, adding, “So I was like, ‘Okay, Kat Dennings. This is it, I can really picture it.’”

Kat Dennings reflects on facing harsh criticism in Hollywood

Kat Dennings started landing roles in Hollywood shortly after changing her name, with appearances in several major productions.

However, her early career was not without its challenges.

In a January 2025 interview with People, the '2 Broke Girls' star opened up about the harsh criticism she faced as a young actress.

Casting directors would call her “fat” and “not pretty enough” when she was just 14 years old.

“The time I was auditioning and starting to act, it was a very different environment than it is now,” she shared.

“There was not a lot of inclusivity at all. It was very harsh,” she continued.

Dennings recalled instances where her manager would relay brutal feedback after auditions.

“For example, I was 12. I’d go into an audition, and my manager would call me and say, ‘Well, they thought you weren’t pretty enough and you’re fat,’” she recalled.

Despite the negativity, Dennings remained determined as she shared,“For some reason, it didn’t break my spirit,” she said. Instead, she used the criticism as motivation.

“I was like, ‘I’ll show them,’” she added with a laugh.