What legal birth name was Johnny Cash given at birth?

Johnny Cash’s legal birth name was J. R. Cash.

Cash was born in Kingsland, Arkansas, on February 26, 1932. His parents, Carrie Cloveree Rivers and Ray Cash, disagreed about whether to name him John or Ray, so they compromised by giving him the initials J. R. rather than a conventional first name.

When Cash enlisted in the United States Air Force, military paperwork did not accept initials as a first name. He therefore used “John R. Cash.” After signing with Sun Records in 1955, he began performing professionally as Johnny Cash, the name that became famous worldwide.

The name is often mistakenly expanded as “John Ray Cash” or “James Robert Cash,” but neither was his birth name. “J. R. Cash” was the original legal name, while “John R. Cash” became the name he used later.