This hoary old quiz chestnut is based on a misunderstanding.
Neil Diamond's real name is Neil Leslie Diamond. The (Daily) Express reported in 2014 that "In a recent Reddit.com chat with fans, the Sweet Caroline hitmaker revealed:
"I actually did have a couple of stage names that I wanted very much to use because although Neil Diamond may sound cool now, when I was about to put my first record out, it was just my name and (it was) pretty boring. Nothing particularly interesting about it.
"My first name was the one the kids around the street made fun of, because there was hardly anybody around who had that name, and I was anxious to get rid of that name on my first record, but I chickened out for personal reasons and stuck with my own name, and it worked out pretty good.
"You wanna hear the other choices? My two other main choices were: Noah Kaminsky, which had biblical underpinnings and great character, and secondly Ice Charry, which I thought was pure rock 'n' roll.
"But both those names are relegated to the dustbin of rock 'n' roll history and I'm so glad that they are."
© Macclesfield Quiz League 2018