1990's Child Star Finally Reveals His Real Name

A 1990's child star has finally revealed his real name.

Joey Lawrence revealed that his name is actually Joey Lawrence Mignogna. He made the revelation at 90s Con in Hartford, Connecticut, on March 28, 2025, according to Parade.

“It was my middle name,” said Joey, 48. “I was named after our dad and our grandfather on my dad’s side. And then, in the early 80s, no one could pronounce Mignogna. That’s not a name people will say. Today, things like that are celebrated. But in the 80s, it was like, ‘We need to water this down.’ The silent Gs. … They were like, ‘We need to go with something a little more bland.’ So they’re like, ‘Let’s call him Joey Lawrence,’ and then that’s just what we did. It just made sense.”

That means that his brothers Matthew and Andrew aren't really named Lawrence either, although they are collectively known as the Lawrence brothers, according to Parade.

The Lawrence brothers starred on the sitcom Brotherly Love. They formed a band together, starred in a movie, and formed a podcast, People reported.

Matthew Lawrence gave another reason for the name change: Protection, according to Parade.

He said there was "an insulation factor. Before the internet, you could hide a little bit behind that. It would be very, very hard to find us.”

Matthew said having two names can be a hassle.

“Now, I’m just stuck with two different names, and I can’t travel internationally without a huge hassle. It’s true!” he said, according to Parade.

“It’s really a pain in the butt, honestly. You have to prove constantly that you’re both people. Even for a while there, the government only recognized me as Matt Lawrence because I paid taxes from the time I was a toddler to 18 as Matt Lawrence, but really my name is Matthew William Mignogna," Matthew Lawrence added.