Kanye West to legally change his name for ‘personal reasons’

Kanye West is officially changing his famous name, taking massive inspiration from the Bible with his new title.

Kanye West is officially changing his name to Ye, his long-known nickname.

The rapper, 44, has filed a petition to change his name from Kanye Omari West to simply just Ye, including no middle name or last name, says the Los Angeles Superior Court documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The father of four cited “personal reasons” for the change, with a judge needing to approve of the petition before it becomes official.

It is not the first time Kanye has tried to drop his full name. In 2018, he announced via Twitter that he was no longer “being formally known as Kanye West … I am YE.”

Kanye West is changing his name to Ye. Picture: Getty Images

West also explained on Twitter in 2018: “Who or what is Kanye West with no ego? Just Ye.”

The nickname Ye came from his 2012 single Clique which featured Jay-Z and Big Sean.

However, Kanye’s strong connection to his religion might be a driving factor into why he wants to change his name to simply Ye.

West’s eighth studio album in 2018 was titled Ye, with the rapper saying in an interview with Boy Boy at the time that “I believe 'ye’ is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible it means ‘you’.”

He continued: “So I’m you, I’m us, it’s us. It went from Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye – just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, everything. The album is more of a reflection of who we are.”

Kim Kardashian kept Kanye’s last name during their divorce. Picture: Getty Images

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Kanye’s Instagram and Twitter accounts are currently shown with his name as Ye, however is handle still remains @Kanyewest.

Dropping his last name will also be a huge significance to his four children who share that last name, North West, 8, Saint West, 5, Chicago West, 3, and Psalm West, 2 – with ex Kim Kardashian West, who didn’t change her last name back to just Kardashian when she filed for divorce in February.

Originally published as Kanye West to legally change his name for ‘personal reasons’