Kirsten Dunst's Real Name: Kirsten Caroline Dunst

Quick answer: Kirsten Dunst's full name is Kirsten Caroline Dunst. She was born on April 30, 1982, in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, and performs under Kirsten Dunst—the civil form of her birth name.

Real name and early life

Britannica and Encyclopedia.com identify Kirsten Caroline Dunst, born April 30, 1982, in Point Pleasant, New Jersey (Britannica; Encyclopedia.com; Biography.com). She began modeling and acting as a child in the New York/New Jersey area before the family relocated toward Los Angeles for her career. Caroline is the middle name; Dunst is the family surname. There is no stage surname—Kirsten Dunst is the professional form of the birth name.

Career highlights

Child stardom arrived as Claudia in Interview with the Vampire (1994) opposite Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, followed by Little Women and Jumanji. As a teen and adult she led Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides, comedy hits like Bring It On, and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy as Mary Jane Watson. Later acclaimed work includes Melancholia (Cannes Best Actress), Fargo Season 2, and The Power of the Dog (Oscar-nominated). She married fellow actor Jesse Plemons; they have children together. Across blockbusters and art-house film, billing stayed Kirsten Dunst; the documented full name is Kirsten Caroline Dunst. Reference works restore Caroline when stating the complete name behind decades of Kirsten Dunst credits on film packaging.

Name notes for searchers

Caroline is often dropped in cast lists. Prefer Britannica and Encyclopedia.com. Wikipedia is a pointer after those primaries.

Spider-Man trilogies and Interview with the Vampire editions make Kirsten Dunst a perennial physical-media and streaming search.

Child-star retrospectives and Raimi-era Spider-Man coverage bill Kirsten Dunst; Britannica-style entries restore Caroline for Kirsten Caroline Dunst when answering “real name” queries directly.

Bring It On and Melancholia sit beside the superhero sets on many shelves, all labeled Kirsten Dunst, with Kirsten Caroline Dunst reserved for the sourced full-name answer this page is built to give.