Kate Winslet reveals why husband changed name from Rocknroll back to Smith

Kate Winslet's husband, Ned, is a unique kind of guy. In fact, for a time, his last name was "Rocknroll."

Legally!

Except, now it's not anymore; Ned, who's been married to Winslet since 2012, was born Abel Smith and has gone back to his original surname. And there's a reason for that, as Winslet, 45, explained during a virtual interview Thursday on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

For one thing, while Ned is used to a certain level of fame (his uncle is Virgin Group co-founder Richard Branson), dating Winslet cast him into a very public eye.

"When he changed his name to 'Rocknroll,' I don't think he had anticipated what might happen if he should have a girlfriend whose name was Kate Winslet and who was quite well-known and therefore the press might kind of not react so well to the fact that she had this boyfriend called then Rocknroll," said the Oscar winner. "So, it was a little tricky."

Then they married and had a son together, Bear Blaze, who is now 7. Winslet has children from her previous two marriages: Mia, 20, and Joe, 17. With Bear, the mundanity of everyday chores meant having a last name like "Rocknroll" became a bit tiresome.

"I got to the point where I'm like, you know, I'm filling in doctors' forms and it says 'mother's name' and 'father's name', and I'm like, 'Honey ... are we going to keep going?'" she recalled. "And he's like, 'Yeah, you're right. I'll just change it back.' So, he changed it back."

Of course, Bear's last name never was Rocknroll — Winslet made sure of that. "(He) was always going to have my name," she told Glamour in 2014. "(Children) Mia and Joe have (Winslet) as part of their name, so it would be weird if this baby didn't. Of course we're not going to call it RocknRoll. People might judge all they like, but I'm a (expletive) grown-up."