I was looking at John Wayne’s death certificate. His name is printed as Marion Robert Morrison, but there’s a handwritten note that says "AKA John Wayne." On the same document, his son is listed as Michael A. Wayne, so their surnames don't even match.
I also found an article saying the name on his marriage license was different as well.
How does this work legally? Why can different official documents for the same person show different names? Can someone just have multiple "legal" names for different purposes?
I’m not American, so I’m curious how the system handles these name differences. And I used Gemini to help polish my English for this post.