Contrary to some speculation, actors Michael Keaton and Diane Keaton are not related. Interestingly enough, Keaton is not the birth name of either actor; both Michael and Diane chose to professionally change their last names to Keaton early on in their acting careers. As stated on the Golden Globes site, Michael altered his name due to the fact that there were already other performers registered with the Screen Actors Guild who had his birth name, Michael Douglas. "Yeah, I had to change my name because there were two other actors registered at Equity with that name, " he said.

As reported by BuzzFeed, Diane was born Diane Hall. When she had to register for an Actors' Equity card, however, she ran into a dilemma like Michael's — someone with her name was already registered. She contemplated names, such as Dorrie Hall and Corry Hall, before choosing Diane Keaton as her stage name. And both Michael and Diane have unique reasons as to why they decided on the last name Keaton for their professional titles. 

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