Kanye West officially changes name to Ye

The singer Kanye West will from now on formally be known simply by the name Ye.

A Los Angeles judge late on Monday approved the request of the rapper, producer and fashion designer to legally change his name from Kanye Omari West to just Ye, with no middle or last name.

“There being no objections, the petition for change of name is granted,” the judge, Michelle Williams Court, said in court documents.

The petition, which was filed on 24 August, cited “personal reasons”.

He previously announced the name change in 2018, writing on Twitter that he was “the being formally [sic] known as Kanye West. I am Ye”.

Explaining the change in a radio interview that year, the then-West had said: “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.” Ye was the title of the studio album he released that year.

The music star has called himself Ye on his social media pages for years.

The 44-year-old is in the middle of a divorce process with Kim Kardashian West, who did not ask for a name change when she filed to split from him in February. The couple’s four children use West.