What is the real name of the character Neo?

Neo’s real name in The Matrix is Thomas Anderson.

Before becoming known as Neo, he works within the simulated world as Thomas A. Anderson, a software employee who secretly operates as a computer hacker. The name “Neo” is his chosen hacker alias and later becomes the identity by which he is known in the resistance and in the wider Matrix mythology.

The character is played by Keanu Reeves and was created by Lana and Lilly Wachowski for The Matrix franchise. Agent Smith frequently addresses him as “Mr. Anderson,” deliberately emphasizing the ordinary identity Neo is trying to escape.

The name also carries symbolic wordplay: “Neo” is an anagram of “one,” connecting to the prophecy that he may be the One. The film’s story turns on the tension between Thomas Anderson’s programmed, controlled life and Neo’s awakening to the artificial reality surrounding him.