Dan Aykroyd's Real Name: Daniel Edward Aykroyd

Quick answer: Dan Aykroyd's documented full name is Daniel Edward Aykroyd. Encyclopaedia Britannica and The Canadian Encyclopedia record that he was born on July 1, 1952, in Ottawa, Ontario, and that he is a Canadian American comedian and actor best known for Saturday Night Live, The Blues Brothers (1980), and Ghostbusters (1984) (Britannica; The Canadian Encyclopedia).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress heading is "Aykroyd, Dan." Britannica lists him in full as Daniel Edward Aykroyd; The Canadian Encyclopedia uses the same full name and notes the post-nominals CM and OOnt. Britannica says he was born to Samuel Aykroyd, a civil engineer and government adviser, and Lorraine (née Gougeon) Aykroyd, a senior civil servant, and that he had a brother, Peter. The Canadian Encyclopedia instead names his father as Peter H. Aykroyd, a civil engineer who served as a policy adviser to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. This page records that conflict and does not choose a first name for his father. Encouraged by his parents, he began improvisational theater classes at age 12. He attended Carleton University in Ottawa, studying sociology and criminology, then left to perform in Toronto comedy clubs. In 1973 he joined Second City at its new Toronto stage, sharing the stage with Gilda Radner, and also performed at the group's Chicago theater, where he became friends with John Belushi.

Career highlights

In 1975 producer Lorne Michaels recruited him to NBC's Saturday Night (later Saturday Night Live). The Canadian Encyclopedia says he is best known for four seasons on the show and that he won an Emmy Award for his writing on SNL. He and Belushi created the Blues Brothers characters, which led to The Blues Brothers (1980), which Aykroyd cowrote. He also cowrote and starred in Ghostbusters (1984). The Canadian Encyclopedia records an Academy Award nomination for his supporting performance in Driving Miss Daisy (1989), as well as membership in the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario and a star on Canada's Walk of Fame. Britannica notes that he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2017. Other film work listed in those sources includes Spies Like Us. The Library of Congress file also records the Blues Brothers billing under which some searchers still look him up, including the Elwood Blues persona.

Name notes for searchers

Daniel Edward Aykroyd is the documented full name; he is known professionally as Dan Aykroyd. Searchers looking for Elwood Blues or a Ghostbusters costar are usually aiming at the same person.