Rachel McAdams's Real Name: Rachel Anne McAdams

Quick answer: Rachel McAdams's real name is Rachel Anne McAdams. She was born on November 17, 1978, in London, Ontario, Canada.

Real name and early life

Encyclopædia Britannica lists her full name as Rachel Anne McAdams. McAdams is her family surname and Anne is her middle name, so her screen name is just her first and last names.

Britannica says she grew up in Ontario, where she acted with the Original Kids Theatre Company and in high school plays. She planned to study cultural studies but switched to theatre, earning a BFA from York University in Toronto in 2001 while acting professionally with the Necessary Angel Theatre Company.

Quick facts

• Real name: Rachel Anne McAdams
• Known as: Rachel McAdams
• Born: November 17, 1978, in London, Ontario, Canada
• Known for: Actor
• Notable work: The Famous Jett Jackson, My Name Is Tanino, The Hot Chick, Mean Girls
• Sources checked: Britannica, Biography.com

Career highlights

McAdams made her screen debut in 2001 on the Disney Channel's The Famous Jett Jackson, and her first feature was My Name Is Tanino (2002). After The Hot Chick (2002), she broke out in 2004 with two very different roles: queen bee Regina George in Tina Fey's Mean Girls, and Allie in The Notebook. Wedding Crashers (2005) followed.

In the 2010s she starred in Morning Glory, Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, The Vow, and About Time, and joined the second season of HBO's True Detective. Playing an investigative journalist in Spotlight (2015) earned her an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress. She also played Dr. Christine Palmer in Doctor Strange (2016), and later starred in Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023) and Sam Raimi's Send Help.

Name notes

Rachel McAdams is her legal name minus the middle name. She has never used a stage 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.