Legally, he's Bob Dylan.
He was born Robert Allen Zimmerman. Zimmerman had grandparents who were eastern European Jewish immigrants, and was raised in the American midwest.
He took Dylan as a surname from the poet Dylan Thomas. He toyed with going with Robert Allyn as his stage name instead, but thought that Dylan sounded 'stronger'.
There is a tribute song to Bob Dylan by folk singer Ralph McTell's, called "Zimmerman Blues".
Dylan became his official legal surname in August 1962. He has four children with the surname Dylan, including Jakob Luke Dylan who is lead-singer with the band 'The Wallflowers'.
After a spell as a born-again Christian convert in the late 1970s, Dylan rediscovered his Jewish roots decades later. In religious ceremonies he takes the Hebrew name Shabtai Zisel ben Avraham v'Rachel Riva. That translates as "Bob son of Abe and Beattie Riva".
He took Dylan as a surname from the poet Dylan Thomas. He toyed with going with Robert Allyn as his stage name instead, but thought that Dylan sounded 'stronger'.
There is a tribute song to Bob Dylan by folk singer Ralph McTell's, called "Zimmerman Blues".
Dylan became his official legal surname in August 1962. He has four children with the surname Dylan, including Jakob Luke Dylan who is lead-singer with the band 'The Wallflowers'.
After a spell as a born-again Christian convert in the late 1970s, Dylan rediscovered his Jewish roots decades later. In religious ceremonies he takes the Hebrew name Shabtai Zisel ben Avraham v'Rachel Riva. That translates as "Bob son of Abe and Beattie Riva".
