Macaulay Culkin's Real Name: Macaulay Carson Culkin

Quick answer: Macaulay Culkin's real name is Macaulay Carson Culkin. He was born on August 26, 1980, in New York City.

Real name and early life

Biography.com lists his birth name as Macaulay Carson Culkin. Britannica confirms his birth date and birthplace and notes that he is one of seven children of Kit Culkin, a former child actor, and Patricia Brentrup. Two of his brothers, Kieran and Rory, also became successful actors.

His father steered the children into acting early. Macaulay's first credited film was Rocket Gibraltar (1988), followed by Uncle Buck (1989) and Jacob's Ladder (1990).

Quick facts

• Real name: Macaulay Carson Culkin
• Known as: Macaulay Culkin
• Born: August 26, 1980, in New York City
• Known for: Actor
• Notable work: Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, My Girl, The Good Son
• Sources checked: Britannica, Biography.com

Career highlights

He became one of the most famous child actors of the 1990s as Kevin McCallister in John Hughes's Home Alone (1990), and he returned for Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). He also starred in My Girl (1991), The Good Son (1993), and Richie Rich (1994) before stepping back from acting amid his parents' custody battle.

He returned as an adult in Party Monster (2003) and Saved! (2004), and later appeared on American Horror Story (2021) and The Righteous Gemstones (2022). Britannica notes that he wrote the novel Junior, fronted the comedy band the Pizza Underground, and created the satirical site Bunny Ears. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023, and he and actress Brenda Song have children together.

Name notes

In 2018 Culkin joked that fans had voted to change his middle name to "Macaulay Culkin." We have found no reliable record that this became a legal change, so this page keeps his documented birth name. Fan sites often copy names from one another, so we checked this page against Britannica and Biography.com. Where sources disagree, we say so rather than guess. We also leave out middle names, nicknames, and origin stories that we couldn't confirm in a reliable source. A popular claim isn't enough to earn a place on this page if no encyclopedia, official record, or major news outlet backs it up.