IS IT TIME TO CHANGE YOUR NAME?

IS IT TIME YOU CHANGED YOUR NAME?

Over the past weeks I have encountered three or four name changes that caused me to wonder if we were at the beginning of a new movement. Perhaps we are starting a trend to rename everything. Let me explain.

A recent news item informed me that Weight Watchers was going to change its name to WW. This is certainly a much more modern moniker and will help to remove some of the stigma associated with needing help to lose weight. I believe it is a worthwhile organization and it does provide assistance and support to millions of people who need help losing extra pounds. Softening the name to WW and disguising the term “weight” seems to be the motivating rationale. Whether it will actually lead to larger membership or increased loss of weight is still to be determined.

Another major company to change names is Dunkin’ Donuts the massive donut chain. In the future, it will be called Dunkin’, without the dangling donut. The big reason for the change according to a company spokesman is that, “The simplicity of our new brand creates energy.” I tried repeating the name Dunkin’, Dunkin’, Dunkin’ several times and sadly must report that I did not feel more energetic at all. But what do I know. I am sure the megabucks spent on a marketing study that resulted in the new “energizing” name have been well spent. 

Changing names has extended itself recently to individuals as well as companies. For example, music rapper (an oxymoron) Sean Combs has been variously known as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy or Diddy, but this year announced his preference for the names Love and Brother Love. Although I also have a affinity for the names Love and Brother Love I have decided to retain plain old “Ken”. 

Another rapper Kanye West has informed his vast following that he will now be known as just YE in the future. As well as being an abbreviation of his current professional name, West has previously said the word has religious significance for him. "I believe 'ye' is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible it means 'you,'" West further clarified his name change as follows, "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. Is there anything that inspires more wonder and awe than a clarification from a rapper?

Finally, my last name change was provided by Monica Lewinsky, former White House intern and cuddle bunny. Ms. Lewinsky has decided that if you tweet, then you should have a hashtag that should be personal and meaningful. She proposed to use (honestly) the following as her hash tag, “Monica Chunky Slut Stalker That Woman Lewinsky”.  Apparently she doesn’t want to be mistaken for any other Monica Lewinsky tweeters!

The practise of name change stimulates my mind with dozens of examples of appropriate name changes that I will save for a future blog. Stay tuned! What would you change your name to if you were so inclined?