Names – A History of When People Got Names, and Why That Happened
Name Change to Entertain is one kind of Professional Name Change, but not the only kind by a long shot. You probably hear about Name Change to Entertain situations, but not the everyday kind. Because when a salesman, financial advisor or real estate broker gets a legal name change, no one puts it on the 10 o’clock news. And, regular people don’t often talk about their own name change to improve their own marketability and brand. But the truth is that people in the U.S. have been changing their names for professional reasons since the days of the Pilgrims and long before that.
Name Change to Entertain
The Odd and the Interesting kind
In recent times, many an entertainer has invented a “stage name” and then gotten a court order to take that stage name for their name change to entertain. Entertainers aren’t the only ones, or even the first ones. Even before this place became the United States, there were Legal Name Changes. There were famous ones you’ve heard of. For instance, Pocahontas was born as Matoaka and later known as Rebecca Rolfe. Here’s a few you’ve never heard of but may find curious: In 2004, a Missouri man succeeded in changing his name to They; In 1969, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that a name change to 1069 could be denied, but that Ten Sixty-Nine was acceptable. These weren’t Name Change to Entertain situations, but they were famous and celebrated.
Every Name Change is done for a reason. And, all the reasons are very personal. Usually, the Name Change represents a pivot point in the life of the person Changing their Name. Often, getting the Court Order to make it legal happens after the change of names. In other words, people often legally change their names to reflect a significant change that took place in the direction of their life. A female taking her husband’s last name is one of the most common examples of this throughout the ages. The singer Prince, is an example of the more famous name change to entertain sort.
The Famous Kind
Some change their names in hopes it will help them become Famous, others because they are already. In fact, it’s impossible not to hear about Famous Name Changes in today’s media and pop-culture driven environment. You can read about a new one almost every day if you’re looking.
Here are just a few: Bono (born Paul David Hewson, the U2 Frontman), Chaz Bono (born Chastity Sun Bono, child of Sonny & Cher), Cher (born Cherilyn Sarkisian, and mother of Chastity/Chaz Bono), Sting (born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner), Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV), Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson and later changed her last name to Baker before becoming MM), Mohammed Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay), Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson, later changed his name to an unpronouncable symbol and then back again to Prince), Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm), John Wayne (born Marion Robert Morrison, later changed his name to Marion Michael Morrison before changing it to John Wayne), Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman), Chad Ochocinco (born Chad Javon Johnson), Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley), Faith Hill (born Audrey Perry), Shania Twain (born Eileen Regina Edwards).
I could literally go on for pages and pages listing people you’ve heard of that have changed their names. You’d guess that all the people listed above changed their names for “show-business reasons”. But, you’d be wrong. Many did, of course. And those who did, did so because they were hoping to gain some professional “branding” advantage through the Name Change. You hear about them because it works.
Famous Name Changes that weren’t to Entertain
Some Famous people Changed their Name to honor family traditions or heritage. Others Changed their Name for Religious reasons or to Americanize their Name. Still others Changed their Name to reflect the path their lives were taking. Name Change to Entertain wasn’t on those people’s minds.
Politicians (President Gerald Ford, born Leslie Lynch King Jr.)(Ford Presidential Library/Museum), Athletes (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor), Religious Leaders (Mother Teressa or Blessed Mother Teressa of Calcutta, born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu), Civil Rights Leaders (Martin Luther King, Jr., born Michael Luther King Jr.), American Folk Heroes (Johnny Appleseed, born John Chapman), American Wild West (Billy the Kid, born Henry McCarty), Criminals (Babyface Nelson, born Lester Joseph Gil), Authors (Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens), Lawmen (Wild Bill Hickok, born James Butler Hickok), The Super Wealthy (Ned Rocknroll (Richard Branson’s nephew), born Ned Abel Smith), Beauty Products (Estee Lauder, born Josephine Esther Mentzer), Fashion (Ralph Lauren, born Ralph Lifshitz), etc., etc., etc., etc.
From the Sports World
If you look far and wide enough, there won’t be a month go by without some famous Name Change to Entertain taking place all over your newspaper, TV screen, browser headlines or the like. Here’s one of widespread interest you might have heard about:
A “bad boy”, was said to undergo a change in the way he looked at life. After a violent incident in 2004, he seemed to fundamentally change his personality. Instead of someone with a trigger temper, he became someone much easier to get along with. He was always a very skilled basketball player, with a fairly notorious reputation. He chose a name from Buddhist and global traditions. This New Name radiated his new outlook about life. In 2011, he filed a Name Change Petition in Los Angeles Superior Court and started using the name. He shed the trappings of his former life and embraced his new, more peace seeking persona.[/quote]
And so, in 2011, Los Angeles Laker starter #15, Ron Artest, legally became Metta World Peace, … officially!
For every Famous Name Change to Entertain you have heard about, there are hundreds of thousands you’ll never hear about…every day, every year. If you want a Legal Name Change to Entertain, or for any legitimate reason, Click here and Start Now!
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