Why Did John Wayne Change His Name?

By Reagan Johnson

Before he became the face of Western cinema, he was just Marion Morrison—a lanky college kid with a football scholarship, a summer job in the film business, and a dog named Duke.

Born in 1907 in Winterset, Iowa, Marion and his family eventually settled in Glendale, California. That’s where the local firemen nicknamed him “Little Duke,” after his loyal Airedale Terrier by the same name. He liked that nickname a whole lot more than Marion, and the name Duke stuck with him for life—even after Hollywood came calling.

His path to the silver screen started behind the scenes, working as a prop boy and extra for Fox Film Corporation. He didn’t set out to become an actor, but when director Raoul Walsh was casting a new kind of Western—The Big Trail (1930)—he saw something in the young Morrison. There was just one problem: the studio didn’t think the name Marion Morrison would sell tickets.

Walsh suggested “Anthony Wayne,” inspired by Revolutionary War hero “Mad Anthony” Wayne. But studio executives thought it sounded too specific. They landed on John Wayne instead—a strong, simple name that suited the bold, stoic characters he’d go on to play. Wayne wasn’t even part of the conversation but went along with it. And with that, a Western legend was born.

Name changes were common in Old Hollywood, where actors signed strict studio contracts and had little say over how they were marketed. But in Wayne’s case, the new name didn’t just stick. It came to define an entire era of classic cinema.