Is Kim Kardashian West Changing Her Name Now That Kanye Is Changing His?
Kanye West recently announced his plans to legally shorten his name. Does this mean that Kim Kardashian West will be changing her name, too?
Kanye West filed to legally change his name
According to the Guardian, West filed official documents with the Los Angeles Superior Court. His goal is to shorten his full legal name, Kanye Omari West, to simply “Ye.” West wants to distill his first name and eliminate his middle and last name. He cited “personal reasons” as his motivation for the name change. A judge must approve the request before the name change becomes official.
This isn’t the first time West has announced his name change. In a tweet back in 2018, he wrote, “the being formally [sic] known as Kanye West. I am YE.”
West explained what the name Ye means to him in a radio interview that same year. “I believe ‘ye’ is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible, it means you. So I’m you, I’m us, it’s us.” He said his name “went from Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye – just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, everything.”
West released his eighth studio album, titled Ye, in June 0f 2018, as well. So, it seems that the name change has been coming for quite a while.
Kim Kardashian West did not change her name after filing for divorce
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West filed for divorce in February 2021 after nearly seven years of marriage. She did not make any moves at the time to legally alter her name to remove the West surname.
She did, however, completely rebrand her beauty line KKW Beauty shortly after filing for divorce. Fans speculated that the rebrand was intended to reflect Kardashian West’s possible name change following the divorce.
But Kardashian West assured followers that the rebrand had nothing to do with the divorce. The rebrand will not only see products with a new name but also with completely different formulas.
Mario Natarelli of branding agency MBLM commented on the rebranding. “This form of brand evolution can help attract investors or scale a business or its offerings or simply elevate the brand’s perception beyond that of an individual. In the case of KKW Beauty, this brand evolution is likely a combination of legal and product changes that will likely stay inextricably linked with Kim herself.”
On KKW Beauty’s website now, the landing page displays a message reflecting Natarelli’s comment.
“WE’RE CURRENTLY AWAY WORKING ON A MORE MODERN, ELEVATED, SUSTAINABLE BRAND AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE – THE WAY KIM HAS ALWAYS ENVISIONED.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING ON THIS INCREDIBLE JOURNEY WITH US. WE PROMISE WE WON’T BE GONE FOR TOO LONG.”
Kim Kardashian West isn’t changing her name now
Regardless of Kanye West’s name change, Kardashian West has no plans of legally altering her own name any time soon.
According to TMZ, her children play an important role in this decision. The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star has always touted her strong family values. Since she has four children with West, it could be important to her to keep the same last name as her kids.
