Why ‘Blue Bloods’ Star Bridget Moynahan Doesn’t Use Her Real 1st Name

Blue Bloods tells the story of a family with a long history of working in law enforcement. And though Tom Selleck leads the cast as New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan, he has a stellar cast of supporting actors behind him.

This includes Bridget Moynahan as his daughter, Assistant District Attorney Erin Reagan. But some fans might not realize Moynahan doesn’t use her real name professionally.

Bridget Moynahan has starred in ‘Blue Bloods’ since 2010

Frank Reagan and his family have been TV mainstays for over a decade. As the show has gone on, it continues to perform strongly in the ratings. Fans have stood by the show since its 2010 debut on CBS. With Blue Bloods Season 13 up and running, the show doesn’t show any sign of slowing down anytime soon.

Moynahan’s character, in particular, has been at the center of a lot of drama. A single mother with a complicated past with ex-husband Jack (Peter Hermann), Erin has firmly remained one of the biggest fan-favorite characters on Blue Bloods. The role has emerged as perhaps the signature performance of Moynahan’s career.

Why Bridget Moynahan chooses not to go by her real name

Despite the love fans might have for Moynahan’s role as Erin Reagan, they might not know the truth behind her name. As the actor told Glamour in 2021, the name most fans know by is her middle name. The star’s first name is Kathryn, and she has a practical reason to change it.

“I started going by Bridget when I began modeling since there were already several Kathryns at the agency, and then it stuck,” Moynahan said. The actor added that she still “[responds] to both” her first and middle names.

Once she rose to stardom in the early 2000s — appearing in movies such as Serendipity and The Sum of All Fears — she leaned into the Kathryn of it all.

‘Blue Bloods’ is currently midway through season 13

Just as viewers are loyal to their favorite CBS procedural drama, the Blue Bloods cast is committed to seeing where the characters go in the years ahead. And Moynahan has grown to see a kinship between herself and her character.

In fact, she has come to discover quite a few similarities between them. The actor has even gained a “more appreciation for the law” through playing Erin.

“Growing up in an Irish Catholic family with all brothers and all boy cousins, I’ve just been surrounded by men my whole life,” Moynahan told Glamour, drawing a parallel between Erin’s place in the Reagan family and where fits she into her own. “And being a single mom [to onscreen daughter Nicky] as well.”

Blue Bloods airs on Fridays at 10 pm Eastern Time on CBS.