Celebrity
Macaulay Culkin Changed His Name For A Surprising Reason
The Home Alone star is taking “commit to the bit” to new heights.
It’s officially Home Alone season. During a special 35th-anniversary screening of the holiday classic, viewers were treated to more than nostalgic laughs — they also got a surprising life update from the film’s star, Macaulay Culkin.
As People reports, Culkin opened up about changing his name at the Long Beach stop of his Home Alone Tour on Nov. 22 — telling fans it’s technically “Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin.”
No, you’re not seeing double. Culkin went on to explain that he indeed changed his middle name from Carson to Macaulay Culkin following a 2018 poll on his satirical lifestyle website, Bunny Ears. As he explained on The Tonight Show at the time, “I thought, you know, I should probably spruce up my name a little bit.”
Other unusual options for his middle moniker included Shark Week, The McRib Is Back, Publicity Stunt, and — OK, this one is pretty sweet — Kieran, after his younger brother Kieran Culkin.
“That would be great. I love my brother. Between me and him, we have exactly one Oscar,” he told the crowd at Long Beach, nodding to Kieran’s Best Supporting Actor win for A Real Pain earlier this year.
But alas, the winner was Macaulay Culkin. The actor dutifully changed his name in 2019, and he’s committed to the bit, pointing out: “If somebody comes up to me at the airport and says, ‘Excuse me, are you Macaulay Culkin?’ I can say, ‘Well, Macaulay Culkin is my middle name.’”
A Man Of Many Names
While Culkin may now have a tongue-twister of a middle name, he goes by something simpler in his personal life: Mack. As his fiancée, Brenda Song, told Bustle earlier this year: “Mack and I are both very antisocial. Our kids have more of a social calendar than I will ever have.”
Professionally, Culkin goes by his standard first and last — like when he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023. He used part of his speech to gush over Song. “You’re not only the best woman I’ve ever known, you’re the best person I’ve ever known. You’ve given me all my purpose, you’ve given me family,” he said. “And after the birth of our two boys, you’ve become one of my three favorite people. You’re somewhere in there. I love you. I love you so much.”
The pair — who share two children — have collaborated several times, most recently voicing characters in Zootopia 2. Culkin also made a playful cameo in Song’s hit Netflix comedy, Running Point.
