Jenny McCarthy's Real Name: Jenny McCarthy

Quick answer: Jenny McCarthy performs under her own name. Jenny is the familiar form of Jennifer, and at least one early TV credit lists her as "Jennifer McCarthy." She was born on November 1, 1972, and grew up in Evergreen Park, Illinois. She became known as Playboy's 1994 Playmate of the Year and as co-host of MTV's Singled Out. She later co-hosted The View and became a judge on The Masked Singer (Biography.com; Encyclopedia.com).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress name authority files her as "McCarthy, Jenny, 1972-" and notes "b. Nov. 1, 1972; actress." Her Encyclopedia.com biographical entry lists "Jennifer McCarthy" as an alternate name. It cites a 1994 episode of Silk Stalkings credited "as Jennifer McCarthy." The entry gives her birthplace as Chicago, names her parents as Dan, a steel plant foreman, and Linda, a courtroom custodian, and says she studied nursing and psychology at Southern Illinois University.

The Illinois Center for the Book says she was raised in Evergreen Park, Illinois, and attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. A middle name circulates in online databases but is not documented in the library and reference sources used here.

Career highlights

Biography.com says McCarthy began modeling for Playboy in 1993. She was named Playmate of the Year in 1994. From 1995 to 1997 she co-hosted MTV's dating show Singled Out with Chris Hardwick. She then fronted her own MTV sketch program, The Jenny McCarthy Show, and starred in the NBC sitcom Jenny (1997–98).

She appeared in films such as Scary Movie 3 and in the sitcom Two and a Half Men. In 2013 she joined The View as a co-host for one season. In 2015 the reality series Donnie Loves Jenny followed her marriage to singer and actor Donnie Wahlberg, whom she wed on August 31, 2014. She has hosted a SiriusXM radio show and contributed to Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. Since 2019 she has been a judge on Fox's The Masked Singer.

McCarthy has a son, Evan, from her marriage to John Mallory Asher. After Evan was diagnosed with autism, she wrote several books on the subject and became an autism activist. Biography.com notes that her views drew criticism over a perceived link between vaccines and autism. In a 2014 Chicago Sun-Times essay she said she favored spacing out infant vaccinations rather than opposing them. She is a cousin of actress Melissa McCarthy.

Name notes for searchers

McCarthy is her family surname, and she did not adopt Wahlberg's name professionally. "Jennifer McCarthy" appears in early credits. Birthplace listings vary between Chicago and nearby Evergreen Park, where she grew up.