--- title: How Marilyn Monroe Got Her Name and the Photo That Proves It description: The story behind this photo — now up for sale at auction — that proves how Marilyn Monroe's real name was changed to her iconic stage name canonical: https://time.com/5368339/marilyn-monroe-real-name-story/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-16T21:04:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T18:11:03.000Z article:section: History og:title: How Did Marilyn Monroe Get Her Name? This Photo Reveals the Story og:description: And the photo is now for sale at auction og:url: https://time.com/5368339/marilyn-monroe-real-name-story/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Did Marilyn Monroe Get Her Name? This Photo Reveals the Story twitter:description: And the photo is now for sale at auction twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # How Did Marilyn Monroe Get Her Name? This Photo Reveals the Story  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Updated: Dec 12, 2023 6:11 PM UTCPublished: Aug 16, 2018 9:04 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Updated: Dec 12, 2023 6:11 PM UTCPublished: Aug 16, 2018 9:04 PM UTC Almost as soon as Norma Jeane Dougherty signed a contract with 20th Century Fox on August 24, 1946, the search for her new stage name was underway… It’s been 72 years since studio executive Ben Lyon suggested she change her name to [Marilyn Monroe](http://time.com/3984218/joyce-carol-oates-marilyn-monroe/?xid=life%5Fsocialflow%5Ffacebook), the actress whose name became synonymous with blonde bombshells she played in films. And now her fans can see — and even own — proof of the origins of her name.  An autographed photograph of Marilyn Monroe and Ben Lyon Courtesy of the family of Marian Nixon Seiter. The above photograph — inscribed by [Marilyn Monroe](http://time.com/3875608/life-at-home-with-marilyn-1953/) to Lyon: “Dear Ben, You found me, named me and believed in me when no one else did. My thanks and love forever. Marilyn” — will be on display at The Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles, beginning this Saturday Aug. 18 until Sep. 30\. The photo of the duo, taken during the filming of _The Seven Year Itch_ (1955), is expected to hit the auction block at the end of October. Considered to be one of the most important photographs in Hollywood history because it debunks myths about how she got her iconic stage name, it could fetch more than $100,000, according to Profiles in History CEO Joseph Maddalena, who runs the auction house that specializes in Hollywood memorabilia. He said photos autographed by Monroe usually fetch between $20,000 and $30,000. So how was the name [Marilyn Monroe](http://time.com/3880752/marilyn-monroe-life-magazine-covers-photos/) chosen? It was a team effort, [according to](https://books.google.com/books?id=r2W9SGUyRmgC&pg=PA486&lpg=PA486&dq=October+1961+and+August+1962,+john+f.+kennedy+marilyn+monroe&source=bl&ots=QAdq7OpbcB&sig=xwDXrdje%5FWTpNosFnrZ3cuKskAw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjfnO2Kz8zcAhUXiIMKHYGiDJEQ6AEwDXoECAEQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22ben%20lyon%22&f=false) one account of how it happened by Monroe biographer Donald Spoto. At the time, Lyon thought there were too many possible pronunciations of “Dougherty,” the surname of her [soon-to-be ex-husband](http://articles.latimes.com/2005/aug/18/local/me-dougherty18). The 20-year-old [model](http://time.com/4956127/essential-photos-marilyn-monroe/) — who was born Norma Jeane Mortenson and later baptized Norma Jeane Baker — suggested Monroe, another surname on the mother’s side of the family, while Lyon came up with Marilyn because she reminded him of [Marilyn Miller](https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126833333), the [Ziegfeld Follies](https://www.si.edu/object/npg%5FNPG.93.21) Broadway musical star who starred with him and W.C. Fields in _Her Majesty, Love._ (Miller and Lyon were also thought to have been [romantically involved ](http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/ben-lyon/)at one point ) It would be apt that the two performers would share the same name, in more ways than one. Spoto points out that not only were they similar on the surface — both blonde in appearance — but also because they both had complicated personal lives, including failed marriages. It would also end up being an eerily prescient name choice because Miller died at 37, while Monroe [died](http://time.com/3984289/marilyn-monroe-obituary/) at 36. But the story doesn’t end there, as many people continued suggesting other names before she settled on Marilyn Monroe. In an Oct. 1946 letter to a friend, she wrote that Clare Norman was also being considered as a screen name, and the names “Meredith” and “Carol Lind” were also reportedly floated, [according to](https://books.google.com/books?id=7yfrxxS3-3IC&pg=PT108&lpg=PT108&dq=marilyn+monroe+modeling+name+jeane+norman&source=bl&ots=i-Jfe1ZxHx&sig=vBqRzcnBB1gYhhfCisbWE4hd31M&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjS5%5F7Ti%5FDcAhVSVd8KHbhfC5MQ6AEwGnoECAQQAQ#v=onepage&q=marilyn%20monroe%20modeling%20name%20jeane%20norman&f=false) another Monroe biographer Lois Banner. [Marilyn Monroe](http://time.com/3491250/marilyn-monroe-at-home-in-hollywood-color-portraits-1953/) clearly won out. However, it would be another decade before [she legally changed her name](https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2016/02/marilyn-monroe-norma-jean/470649/) to her stage name, which was in Feb. 23, 1956 (four months before she would [marry](http://time.com/4064644/arthur-miller-marilyn-monroe-wedding/) _Death of a Salesman_ playwright Arthur Miller). **Correction: Sep. 5** _The original version of this article misstated the name that appeared on the Aug. 24, 1946, contract with 20th Century FOX. It was Norma Jeane Dougherty, not Marilyn Monroe._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5368339/marilyn-monroe-real-name-story/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5368339/marilyn-monroe-real-name-story/"},"headline":"How Did Marilyn Monroe Get Her Name? 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