section_path: Personal life/Name change
section_name: Name change
paragraph_text: Name change
  
  In August 2021, West applied to court to have his legal name changed from "Kanye Omari West" to "Ye", with no middle or last name; he cited "personal reasons" for the change. The request was granted by Michelle Williams Court, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, in October 2021. West had alluded to wishing to change his name since 2018 and had used Ye as a nickname for several years prior, stating in a 2018 interview that he believed " ye " (/ j iː /) was the most commonly used word in the Bible: "In the Bible it means 'you'. So, I'm you. I'm us. It's us. It went from being Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye." He has said that the name Ye represents him without an ego. West began releasing music under the name Ye and making an effort to change his social media handles from @kanyewest to @ye in 2025. HotNewHipHop noted that the public still generally referred to him using his birth name, "hether for SEO reasons, force of habit, animosity, or intentional suppression".
  
  In August 2021, West applied to court to have his legal name changed from "Kanye Omari West" to "Ye", with no middle or last name; he cited "personal reasons" for the change. The request was granted by Michelle Williams Court, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, in October 2021. West had alluded to wishing to change his name since 2018 and had used Ye as a nickname for several years prior, stating in a 2018 interview that he believed " ye " (/ j iː /) was the most commonly used word in the Bible: "In the Bible it means 'you'. So, I'm you. I'm us. It's us. It went from being Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye." He has said that the name Ye represents him without an ego. West began releasing music under the name Ye and making an effort to change his social media handles from @kanyewest to @ye in 2025. HotNewHipHop noted that the public still generally referred to him using his birth name, "hether for SEO reasons, force of habit, animosity, or intentional suppression".