While it was a name that would come to dominate the industry, “Wayne” wasn’t the iconic Western actor’s birth name. He was born Marion Robert Morrison and didn’t change his stage name to “John Wayne” until director Raoul Walsh and studio head Winfield Sheehans decided his given name was “too Italian” and didn’t fit what they had in mind for leading movie stars. While he wasn’t given a choice in the name that would become iconic to Western movie fans everywhere, Wayne had gone by the nickname “The Duke” since he was a child. Wayne had a modest upbringing living in Iowa, where he learned to play sports and took an interest in acting.

Source: Collider