A resurfaced video from TikTok revealed one of the most shocking facts about Hollywood actor Andy Samberg. In an interview with Howard Stern, the Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor left the fans stunned in 2016. In fact, he revealed that ‘Andy’ was never really his name and he willingly changed it when he was just 5 years old.
While he couldn’t really pinpoint why he wanted to change it when he was just a toddler, his family did not seem to have an objection to it. He explained that the name he was given at birth was his grandfather’s, and looking back, he wasn’t really fond of the fact that he changed it.
What is Andy Samberg’s real name?
Andy Samberg revealed that his real name was David. “When I was first born, it was David,” he told Stern. “You changed it on your own, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why Andy is better than David,” Stern replied. “In fact, maybe David’s even better.”
What’s Andy Samberg’s real name? He told Howard how he made the change when he was just 5 years old.
Stream his full 2016 interview now on @siriusxm! https://t.co/yt0nxsjgej pic.twitter.com/eFxbMMgGJd
— Stern Show (@sternshow) October 11, 2025
“Why did you hate the name David?” Howard then asked, with the actor clarifying that this wasn’t the case. He shared that there was no ‘hate’ for the name, he shared that when he was 5, “I got it in my head that it should be Andy. And I told my mom, and she was just like: ‘OK!’”
He lauded his mother for being “open-minded,” and revealed that everyone at home started to call him Andy when Stern asked. The host even commented he hated his own name and wished that it were something like David.
‘Andy fits him way better’
The Internet couldn’t help but react to this news after this 2016 TikTok video resurfaced. They shared that they even found Andy better than David, quoting the popular Netflix series, Schitt’s Creek, a user wrote, “Eww, David.” One of the protagonists on NBC’s cop show Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Samberg first appeared in the show in 2013. ““I fell in love with him the first time I saw him and was disappointed his name was Andy,” wrote another user.
A humorous debate struck a chord with the netizens as they deliberated if “Andy fits him better.” Sharing their personal experience, a user wrote, “I’m David and remember wanting to be ‘Jack’.” Somebody else wrote: “I just found out that my cousin, whose name has always been David, is actually named Seth!” And another comment read, “When I was 2, I insisted my name was Kayla, so my parents just said okay and changed my name.”