Daniel Radcliffe's Real Name: Daniel Jacob Radcliffe

Quick answer: Daniel Radcliffe's full name is Daniel Jacob Radcliffe. He was born on July 23, 1989, in Fulham, London. He played Harry Potter in all eight films (2001–11) and later became known for unconventional roles. He won a 2024 Tony Award for Merrily We Roll Along. He acts under his birth name (Britannica; Library of Congress).

Real name and early life

Britannica's quick facts give his name "in full" as Daniel Jacob Radcliffe and his birthplace as Fulham, London. The Library of Congress name authority files him as "Radcliffe, Daniel, 1989-." It cites "Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989); English actor; born Fulham, London, England" and lists many foreign-script forms. Jacob is his middle name.

Britannica says he started acting at six, playing a monkey in a school play. He passed up an audition for a TV Oliver Twist, but producer Kate Harwood was impressed by his "charm and simplicity" and cast him in the title role of the BBC's David Copperfield (1999). He then appeared in the film The Tailor of Panama (2001).

Career highlights

He was cast as Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), a box-office hit. He played the role in every sequel through Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011).

Afterward he deliberately chose varied, often unusual projects. Film work included December Boys (2007), Kill Your Darlings (2013) as poet Allen Ginsberg, What If, Horns, Victor Frankenstein as Igor, Now You See Me 2, and Swiss Army Man (2016) as a corpse befriended by Paul Dano's castaway. He also starred in Jungle (2017), Guns Akimbo, Escape from Pretoria, and The Lost City (2022) with Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum. He won wide praise as "Weird Al" in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022). On TV he appeared in My Boy Jack, A Young Doctor's Notebook, and four seasons of Miracle Workers (2019–23).

On stage he starred in Peter Shaffer's Equus in London's West End (2007) and then on Broadway (2008). His later Broadway credits include How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2011), The Cripple of Inishmaan (2014), and The Lifespan of a Fact (2018). His role in the 2023–24 Broadway revival of Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along won him the Tony.

Name notes for searchers

Radcliffe is his family surname, and he has never used a stage name. LOC records foreign-language forms, such as Japanese "Danieru Radokurifu" and Korean "Daeniŏl Raedŭk'ŭllip'ŭ," for translated releases. Britannica and LOC agree on the middle name Jacob.