It’s been his nickname for years, but now Kanye West wants to make it official.
On Tuesday (August 26), Kanye filed documents in court to legally change his name from Kanye Omari West to “Ye.” No middle name. No last name. Just Ye.
His reason for changing his name? “Personal reasons.”
This may have been a long time coming. Kanye has actually been pretty open about his love for the name “Ye” – it was the name of his self-titled 2018 album and he’s previously announced he was adopting it as his stage name.
“the being formally known as Kanye West. I am YE,” he wrote in a tweet from 2018.
He’s also previously explained the meaning behind his preferred shortened moniker.
“I believe ‘ye’ is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible, it means ‘you,’” Kanye shared in an interview with radio host Big Boy that same year. “So I’m you, I’m us, it’s us. [The title] went from Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye — just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confusion, everything.”
The name change is yet to be made official – a California judge still has to sign off and, in most cases, the name change also has to be published in newspapers.
Although courts are yet to sign off on it, multiple outlets claim his petition is likely to be approved.
So, what will this mean for estranged wife Kim Kardashian-West, who still uses it as hyphenated surname amid their ongoing divorce, and his four children, who all still carry West last name?
According to sources, while Kim fully supports Ye’s decision to change his name she “will not eliminate West from her name or the names of her children,” per TMZ.
“It’s important for her to keep the same last name as her four children, and there are no plans to change North, Psalm, Chicago and Saint’s last names, either,” the outlet adds.
In case you missed it, Kim filed for divorce from Kanye in February, citing “irreconcilable differences.” However, the two continue to have a “friendly relationship” and co-parent their children. They have reunited as a family on a number of outings, including Ye’s listening events for his upcoming album, Donda.
