Paul McCartney tells why he goes by ‘Paul’ rather than his given name ‘James’.
Paul’s full name is James Paul McCartney, and the reason why Paul calls himself Paul rather than James has been a cause for much speculation over the years.
Meanwhile, some actors have to change their names to meet Screen Actors Guild requirements. Only one actor with a given name can be registered with the prestigious group, so Michael Andrew Fox became Michael J. Fox and Emily Stone became Emma Stone to avoid duplications.
None of these reasons, however, explain why Paul McCartney goes by a name that isn’t the one he was given.
Macca's given name is James Paul, why did his parents call him Paul rather than James, Jim or Jimmy?
"It’s a strange story! Paul says, I was told that it was because if letters arrived at the house for James McCartney, you wouldn’t know whether it was my Dad - that was James McCartney - or me, James McCartney.
So that worked until they called my brother - whose name was Peter Michael McCartney - Michael!? And there was no Peter in the house to confuse him with!
So I’ve ended up thinking it was rather Irish! I’ve no idea! My mum was Irish – and I don’t know, maybe there’s just some old thing where they call you by your second name. Nobody ever called me James, it was always Paul!
He said he “doesn't feel like a James”, he more “feels like a Paul”. His dad was called James McCartney as is his son. Same goes for Ringo Starr, who is actually called Richard Starkey.
Recently Sir Paul was in conversation with Stanley Tucci and told an anecdote from the early years about John Lennon and how he was blind as a mole.
In a discussion with American actor Stanley Tucci about his new photo exhibition, Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes Of The Storm.
Tucci asks McCartney about John Lennon’s poor eyesight, and the fact that he wore glasses, but usually, Paul describes one particularly amusing scene after a late-night songwriting session at his house, after which Lennon walked home around midnight and the next day, told McCartney that he had been amazed to see people on the corner of Booker Avenue “out on the porch playing cards.”
Says Paul: “I had to investigate, so I went round and had a look. It was a nativity scene. They weren’t playing cards, they were all bent over the baby Jesus. So that’s why he needed glasses.”
Erlier this week the music legend made the surprise announcement that he planned to head Down Under for the first time since 2017, taking his Got Back tour to five cities – and fans have only weeks to wait.
McCartney has followed last week’s announcement of Australian dates on his Got Back tour with news that the itinerary will visit Brazil for the first time, from late November into mid-December. 
In a statement, he added: “I’ve got some good news. We’re coming back to Brazil in November to play for you. We have such great memories from all our visits. I love coming to Brazil because you guys like to rock, sing and party all at once. We’re really excited. Let’s have fun. Let’s rock. Let’s roll. Let’s stomp. Let’s stroll. And Brazil, let’s have a great time.”
McCartney and his band will be playing shows in five cities, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Belo Horizonte, and Curitiba (full dates below). He accompanied the announcement with a short video in which he says: “Ok, ok, ok, I heard you! We’re coming to Brazil. See you there.”
