In Creed, Adonis fights under his biological mother's surname, Johnson, before taking the ring name Creed. Although he is Apollo Creed's son, Adonis initially avoids using his famous father's surname because he wants to build a boxing identity of his own.
Adonis was born after Apollo's affair with a woman named Johnson and spends part of his youth in foster care and juvenile detention. Apollo's widow, Mary Anne Creed, later takes him in and raises him. As a young adult, Adonis works in finance while secretly boxing in Tijuana under the nickname “Hollywood.”
His decision changes when Rocky agrees to train him and champion Ricky Conlan offers him a major fight. Conlan's team insists that he fight as Creed, forcing Adonis to confront Apollo's legacy. The film visually preserves both identities: his trunks use “Creed” on the front and “Johnson” on the back. The surname is sometimes confused with Bianca Taylor's or Leo Sporino's, but neither is Adonis's birth name.