Carly Simon's Real Name: Carly Elisabeth Simon

Quick answer: Carly Simon's documented also-known-as form is Carly Elisabeth Simon. AllMusic lists that name and dates her birth to June 25, 1943, in New York, N.Y. Britannica independently uses the same date and places the birth in New York City, without a middle name (AllMusic; Britannica).

Real name and early life

She is known professionally as Carly Simon. AllMusic records the fuller form Carly Elisabeth Simon; Britannica does not use a middle name in the account cited here. Both date the birth to June 25, 1943, and place it in New York. AllMusic's birth field is "New York, NY," and its biography says she was born and raised in the Bronx's Riverdale neighborhood. Britannica's lead uses the broader "New York City, New York." Those descriptions are compatible if Riverdale is read as a more specific New York placing, and the difference in precision is stated here rather than treated as a clash of two cities. Britannica says she was raised in an upper-class musical home: her father was a cofounder of the Simon & Schuster publishing house and a pianist, and her mother was a singer and civil rights activist. AllMusic independently names her father as the book publisher Richard L. Simon, co-founder of Simon & Schuster, and her mother as Andrea Simon (née Heinemann), a singer. Britannica notes that her two sisters also pursued music and that her brother became a photographer. She quit Sarah Lawrence College to perform with her sister Lucy as the Simon Sisters.

Career highlights

Britannica says that in 1966, guided by Bob Dylan's manager, Albert Grossman, and accompanied by members of the Band, she began a solo album that was never completed. Several years later, with songs mostly cowritten by Jacob Brackman, she had a series of hit albums and singles, including "You're So Vain" and "Anticipation." AllMusic independently lists early work with the Simon Sisters and a credit with Elephant's Memory, and treats her as a singer-songwriter of the adult-contemporary and soft-rock era. Britannica also describes her later work as a writer of several children's books.

Name notes for searchers

Carly Elisabeth Simon is the documented also-known-as form on AllMusic; the professional name is Carly Simon. Searchers looking for "You're So Vain" or "Anticipation" are usually aiming at the same person.