Anne Hathaway's Real Name: Anne Jacqueline Hathaway

Quick answer: Anne Hathaway's full name is Anne Jacqueline Hathaway. She was born on November 12, 1982, in Brooklyn, New York, and acts under Anne Hathaway—the civil form of her birth name (Britannica).

Real name and early life

Encyclopædia Britannica lists her as Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (Britannica; LOC). Jacqueline is the middle name; Hathaway is the family surname. There is no stage surname. The family moved from Brooklyn to Millburn, New Jersey, when she was six. Her father, Gerald, was a lawyer; her mother, Kate McCauley, was a stage actress. Touring with her mother during a Les Misérables production spurred her interest in theater. She studied with New York’s Barrow Group and, at 16, landed her first television role on the family drama Get Real (1999–2000) before graduating high school in 2000 and shifting into film. She also sang with an honors chorus at Carnegie Hall in 1999, foreshadowing later musical roles.

Career highlights

Her big-screen breakthrough was Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries (2001) and its 2004 sequel, plus the fairy-tale Ella Enchanted. Determined to avoid typecasting, she took adult roles in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (2005) and The Devil Wears Prada (2006) opposite Meryl Streep. An Oscar nomination for Rachel Getting Married (2008) preceded her Academy Award for best supporting actress as Fantine in Les Misérables (2012)—the same role she had watched her mother play onstage. Other major credits include Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises, scientist Brand in Nolan’s Interstellar, Ocean’s 8, and Penelope in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey (2026). She married actor and jewelry designer Adam Shulman in 2012; they have two sons. Across fairy-tale hits and awards-season dramas, billing stayed Anne Hathaway; the documented full name is Anne Jacqueline Hathaway.

Name notes for searchers

Do not confuse her with Shakespeare’s wife Anne Hathaway of Stratford-upon-Avon. Prefer Britannica and LOC for the American actress. Wikipedia is a pointer after primary citations.