Leonardo DiCaprio's Real Name: Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio

Quick answer: Leonardo DiCaprio's full name is Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio. He was born on November 11, 1974, in Los Angeles, California, and performs as Leonardo DiCaprio—the civil form of his birth name.

Real name and early life

Encyclopædia Britannica identifies him in full as Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (Britannica; official site). DiCaprio is the family surname; Wilhelm is the middle name. He first appeared on television as a child on Romper Room, then in commercials, educational films, and series such as The New Lassie, Roseanne, and a recurring role on Growing Pains. His feature debut was the low-budget horror Critters 3 (1991). He was raised in Los Angeles by his mother, Irmelin, with support from his father, George, an underground comics artist.

Career highlights

Breakthrough reviews came opposite Robert De Niro in This Boy’s Life (1993) and an Oscar nomination for supporting actor in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). Teen stardom followed Romeo + Juliet (1996) and global fame as Jack Dawson in James Cameron’s Titanic (1997). Frequent collaborator Martin Scorsese directed him in Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Killers of the Flower Moon. He won the Academy Award for best actor for Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s The Revenant (2015) after multiple prior nominations. Other major credits include Catch Me If You Can, Inception, Django Unchained, The Great Gatsby, and Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood. He is also a noted environmental advocate who hosted Earth Day programming, joined boards including the Natural Resources Defense Council, and produced documentaries such as The 11th Hour and Ice on Fire. Across decades of billing, the name stayed Leonardo DiCaprio; the documented full name is Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio.

Name notes for searchers

Wilhelm reflects his German maternal line; there is no separate stage surname in encyclopedia accounts. Prefer Britannica and his official materials over rumor sites. Wikipedia is useful only as a pointer after primary citations.