MLK Jr. Wasn't Born With That Name—Here's Why One of the most fascinating facts about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is that he wasn't born with the name Martin Luther King. His original birth certificate, filed on April 12, 1934—five years after his birth on January 15, 1929—listed his name as Michael King Jr. His father was Reverend Michael King Sr., a respected Baptist pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. In the summer of 1934, when young Michael was just five years old, his fat