That’s right, actor Blake Lively’s real name is Blake Ellender Brown. But where does “Lively” come from? And why is her true last name Brown if her father’s last name is Lively, too?
Well, here’s the breakdown. Blake’s mother, Elaine, was first married to a man named Ronnie Lively, per IMDb. Elaine had three children with Ronnie, all with the surname Lively — named Robyn, Lori, and Jason. After Elaine and her first husband split, she got remarried to actor Ernie Brown in 1979. Remarkably, Ernie adopted all three of Elaine’s children and changed his name to Elaine’s married name, Lively, per Elle. The pair then had two children of their own, Eric in 1981 and Blake in 1987.
So, while Blake’s surname is technically Brown, since that is the name her father was given at birth, it is clear that Ernie wanted to blend their two families together and united them by their last name. Plus, Blake’s father had a prolific acting career before she burst onto the screen and Elaine was a talent manager, so the Lively name has a storied past in Hollywood.
